Itchy&Scratchy

well, i didn't even get a pdf file when I made a reservation online, so I don't have anything to show.

oh, one more thing. On RCI ships you have to check out the pool/beach towels with your card (sea pass card). When you check them back in, you have to tap your card again. On our Allure cruise our cabin attendant saw us come back from the port with wet towels and very helpfully offered to take them to check them back in. Well, you have to double check with the towel attendant on the pool deck because when I did - the towels were never checked IN under our cabin number. We would have owed $25 per towel. I told the pool/towel attendant that our cabin one was supposed to have returned them on the previous day... He did the appropriate check-in stuff.

we use a large plastic grocery bag (or several) for the dirty laundry. Not a t-shirt that can be worn again, but for underwear and socks and such. Just stuff all the dirty stuff into a bag, and at the end of the cruise toss that bag into a suitcase. We bring lysol wipes with us and give every wipeable surface a good once over. We are not overly clean people, and we have dogs and dirty floors, but we don't want to touch stuff that may not have been cleaned in years on a cruise. Norovirus is icky. Some cabins have been super clean, but some - not so much, especially on older ships. Sometimes the wipes become very dirty after a couple of swipes. So, I make sure to wipe everything in the bathroom - toilet, toilet lid, shower handles and switches, even the small shelves, every light switch in the cabin, TV remote, phone receiver and buttons, the tops of nightstands, outside of the safe, door handles... Some cabin attendants are exceptional and we see them every day. And then there were cruises where we never saw our cabin attendant. Not even once. But other than wiping everything with lysol wipes (we also do that on the plane), the cabin attendant takes care of everything else BirdTravels said, with the exception of "clean balcony glass railing, fold clothing left lying around, organize shoes."

the alcohol package on other lines is $70-90 pp PER DAY. Not total. Plus gratuity. Here is my upcoming RCI cruise: If you can get the Easy Plus drink package and Wifi for about $180 pp for a 7 day cruise and you think you'll break even - go ahead.

how's that acceptable????? You make a final payment before 90 days. The price goes up at 90+ days because "MSC adjusts the port taxes" according to you. Your cruise gets cancelled because you are never notified about the increase. MSC pockets your money. That's not normal or acceptable. Nor does it make any sense.

They are not unaccompanied, though. Nor are they minors. "No Guest younger than the age twenty-one (21) will be assigned to a stateroom unless accompanied in the same stateroom by an adult twenty-one (21) years old or older."

milk is always available onboard in places where coffee and tea are served. It will not be in cartons, though. It will be in a pitcher. Been there, done that. Got lots of milk for our then toddler right before bed time at the Promenade cafe or at the buffet at the coffee/tea station. Or you can pick up extra cartons at breakfast and stash them in your cooler in the cabin.

I don't know, but I highly doubt it. My friends' kids were never in the same group, they have a 3 year age difference. They love Princess kid's club and they've been doing it for years.

I logged into my cruise personalizer but I cannot see where and how I can add a non-alcoholic beverage package. Does MSC have those? There is a bunch of cakes under the Beverage section, and some bottles of champaigne/wine, but I can't see a soda package/minor's package. Help?

I don't know because my kid refuses to do kid's club, however, on a medallion cruise, I am sure they can get a hold of you much easier - they will know exactly where you are on the ship. They maybe could even text you on the app. Years ago on his very first cruise (RCI) we were given a pager. DS lasted 20 minutes after which they notified us to come get him.

please bring your own seat. If you wouldn't drive your kid around without a car seat at home, you wouldn't want them to ride without a car seat in a taxi with a driver you've never met before either.

why would you want to endanger your granddaughter? The laws of physics still apply, and she'll fly right out of the vehicle on impact. Do you really want her to be a crash test dummy? Taxi drivers are crazy in Florida. Been there, done that. Crazy. Bring a seat with you, use it on the plane and use it in taxis/ubers. For a 3 yo I'd pick something cheap like Evenflo Tribute or Cosco Finale if you won't want to use her own seat. Are the kid's parents coming? Do not rent a seat because you don't know its history. It may have been in a crash or improperly cleaned, and once again - who will be the crash test dummy? Don't do it to a child if you care about their life. boosters are inappropriate for 3 yo kids. They don't have the maturity to always sit properly in a booster, and most of the time they are too small for boosters anyway.

nobody does. But if my mom's BP is out of control because her food is full of sodium - that's no bueno. To add insult to injury, she never got her sense of smell or taste back after having Covid in 2020. So, all she can taste is straight up sweet, salty, bitter and sour. That's all she gets. Take away salty and you are eating the plainest main dish ever...Thankfully, mom is not a glutton like me or my dad.

it really does. We've usually gone on 7 night Thanksgiving cruises, since we have a school aged child and have to sail during school breaks. Princess sailings have always been lively, with plenty of kids and middle aged peeps, but more sophisticated than RCI. We went on a 10 day Thanksgiving cruise last year, and good grief - only a handful of kids, but everyone else was pretty much an old geezer. My apologies to the old geezers who don't feel old - very happy for you! P.S. We are in our 40s. 🙂 Sometimes we bring our parents with us (70s).

you can in MDR. We worked with the headwaiter to order no-salt added dinners for both of my parents.

depends on a cruise. This morning it let me look up a Divina cruise, but not Seascape or Seashore during the same week. Now it's working ok, so I'd better start looking things up. 🙂 ETA: spoke too soon, still unable to see the Seashore cruise in March 2024.

no, the app should open way before than. If you have a cruise booked, it should also already be in your account on the app. If not, you can link to it. In the app you can also look at all the other cruises, not just yours. You can also check in online, on their website.

we never requested one specifically to use in the cabin, but I've never seen them onboard. We've been sailing since DS was 3, but he is on a taller side.

not at all. We don't even use the pools... But we do use beaches, and if something happens to our luggage, we'll at least have swim suits, sunhats, and flip flops with us. Plus, 1 pair of shorts and a t-shirt. So, all we'll need is a bottle of SPF lotion/spray. Also, about the nausea meds - we never needed them until one day my kid became both sea sick and car sick very out of the blue. He never was until he was 10!!!!! And on one of the cruises my dad was all of a sudden very sea sick, but, thankfully, I had the dramamine for the kid, so it came in handy for my dad as well. Insurance is such a thing - you almost never need it when you have it, but when you need it - bam, you don't have it.

if your kids are going to be out of school, there may be a few kids who are still on winter break during that week. Families with younger kids will also be present.

I may not understand this as well as you do.... The personalizer will only show something if you have a booked cruise. If there is no booked cruise, it shows nothing. How does one see what's available to book with casino rates? Is there a phone number or a site? Where does one see the offers for cruises not yet booked? Do I need to look through ALL the cruises to see if one comes up at zero?

where online? I am sure she would have seen it by now if it were in her account. I don't see anything in my own account, but then - I don't go to the casino. But not even a section where I would be looking?

what is the phone number to call for casino rates? My friend's mom spends thousands in Princess casinos, but never once got an offer.

we simply take extra magnesium supplements and that solved the balooning problem. Also helps with leg cramps, constipation and sleeplessness, so it's a win-win-win.

I am just going to add: If you are American citizens born in the US - you can sail on most close-loop cruises with an official birth certificate and a govt ID. If you are naturalized - you have a foreign birth certificate which is useless when it comes to proving that you are a US citizen.