elchichicuilote

An ambulance ride for my mother cost $1100 to go 400 ft. (correct - 400 feet). Medicare paid $900 - so I am not really surprised for what a cruise ship dr visit cost..

 

JK

That's a bargain! I had a 1500 foot ambulance ride for a bit over $2,000. Worth every penny! Of course, the charge was almost entirely for the ambulance showing up and the paramedics caring for me -- if it had been 200 feet, it would have been virtually the same charge.

Yes, it was mostly paid for by my insurance. Furthermore, the voters in my city passed a property tax measure that funds the paramedics, and also has a provision which says that residents subject to the paramedic tax will not have to pay any out-of-pocket costs for paramedic services. So the minor amount not paid by my insurance was covered by this provision.

But I still would gladly have paid the full charge out of pocket. I really needed that ambulance, and I'm grateful they were standing by and ready to help.

We were in Miami two weeks ago, and happened to walk by that passport office. It is very close to the cruise terminal, not quite walking distance but a very short taxi or Uber ride. It's right around the corner from the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay (where we were staying).

The website says you MUST make an appointment online before coming. I just checked, and there are no appointments available on Monday, but there are appointments available on Tuesday morning. If you must have passports on Monday, I'd show up without an appointment and plead. If Tuesday would stand any chance of working for you, I'd make an appointment NOW for Tuesday morning. And still show up Monday.

https://passportappointment.travel.state.gov

On a personal level, there's a huge ick factor in thinking that I may be lying on part of Uncle Bob or Grandma Mabel, and not the sand I had been hoping for.

Ick factor? Do you know what those beautiful white sand beaches are made of?

http://www.newsweek.com/where-does-sand-come-parrotfish-poop-makes-white-beaches-and-now-scientists-714024

Not cruising, but I used to live in South Florida near West Palm Beach, and went SCUBA diving or snorkeling most weekends over a few years. Also took dive trips to the Keys and Cozumel. Saw lots of barracuda. I often saw them hanging out in the shadows, underneath a dock or boat. Never heard a first-hand or second-hand story of one actually hurting a person.

They definitely have big sharp teeth, and I wouldn't try and provoke them. But assuming you don't provoke them, I also wouldn't worry about them. They seem to be very docile and eager to leave humans alone.

You were kidding about updating the ship's locations on the map, right? These rugs aren't virtual projections. :')

Well, the ship IS called the "Magic". All I'm saying is that I wasn't watching all night to see if someone came along and re-sewed anything to make an update.

If you have kids or grandkids of the appropriate age, the seeds of an interesting story might be found there...

One of the things I love about Disney is all the attention they pay to little details. For one example, here's a photo of the carpet in the corridor near our stateroom:

Some things to notice:

• North on the globe is always toward the bow of the ship (helpful if you ever get disoriented)
  
• There are red things near Anaheim, Orlando, and Paris.
  
• There are four ships on the map (I don't believe they update them for the ships' current locations, but I didn't really check)
  
• The ship's name is spelled out in the nautical flags above and below the globe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags
  

There are other nautical flags around the ship. If you have kids who like a puzzle, print out a chart of those flags and their letters and bring it with you on your cruise. Challenge your kids to decode all the messages they can find.

Does anyone else have favorite little details? There are plenty!

You can do the registration for the Oceaneer's Club and Lab on line in advance' date=' but you still need to "confirm registration" and get the band for the child after boarding. This used to happen in the terminal or on board, but more recently has been on board only. It could change again next week!

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It may have already changed! When we boarded the Magic in Miami on April 6, 11 days ago, they gave our kids the bands in the terminal before we got on board the ship. We had registered on-line in advance.

 

FWIW, when we arrived at the port to check in, things were virtually empty. We had a scheduled port arrival time of 2:00-2:30, but we showed up early at about 1:45. We didn't have to wait at all to check in. Perhaps if there had been long lines, they would have skipped the bands in the terminal, and told us to get them on the ship? I don't know what their policy is; I can only report on what our own individual experience was.

Out of curiosity, did you use the new on-demand features on the TV at all? And if so what you thought of it? :)

I didn't personally, but our kids did. There's a deep catalog of classic Disney movies, along with more recent Pixar offerings. The kids were always wanting to watch one. They watched everything from "Snow White" to "Inside Out". I didn't browse through all the available selections, but there were many. The technical quality is excellent, and it's easy to pause/resume.

Personally, I'd almost prefer they didn't have any of that in the stateroom, because it was sometimes difficult to pry the kids away from it. But it was there and it worked well.

We just got back from a 5-night cruise on the Magic, April 6-11, sailing from Miami, with stops in Key West, Nassau, and Castaway Key. We had a great time!

The ship recently had a dry dock, with some changes. This was our first time sailing with Disney, so we don't have a perfect picture of what the ship was like before. But the most notable changes were that the Cariocas restaurant has been re-themed as Rapunzel's Royal Table, and Pete's Boiler Bites has been re-themed as the Duck-in Diner.

Rapunzel's Royal table put on a great show; we were there the night of the Tangled show at the Walt Disney Theatre.

The Duck-in Diner seemed to be the same as Pete's Boiler Bites, other than the name change. Maybe we missed a subtle menu change?

One other thing we noticed was that there were more power outlets than we expected in our stateroom.

We were in room 1043, a Deluxe Interior stateroom on deck 1. The uppermost outlet in the photo was a slightly whiter color than the others, and looked as though it had been newly installed. It had two standard US receptacles, plus two ports to directly plug in USB cables.

The bedside also contained an alarm clock, and the alarm clock had two USB ports, for charging phones or whatever.

Below the clock, there was a spare 120V outlet (plus an outlet that was powering the clock).

We brought a 6-port USB charger, and had way more than enough capability to charge our phones and cameras.

Companies should never respond in social media. Ever. Unless it's a person at the company posting under her or his name. The statement by NCL is a typical case of a social media marketing department crafting a message that hits all the talking points and yet doesn't communicate any of them. They should not say anything on CC, or have someone - a real person - responding.

Mostly agree, but I also recall, in 1994, when Intel was having a minor public relations crisis regarding a newly discovered bug in the flagship Pentium chips. Andy Grove, then CEO of Intel, posted on usenet using his real name. He was dismissive of customer's concerns, and his postings did a lot to inflame the crisis. So even a personal reply from a human being in charge isn't necessarily helpful.

Actions speak louder than words. The company's action was to obviously and intentionally do heavy construction work during a cruise, which has the clear effect of sacrificing the service to some customers. When they do that, getting out in front of the public and touting the policy of "providing a consistent high-quality experience to all guests" just makes people angry at the lie.

A company that truly tries to deliver a consistent, high quality experience would know that their success in that goal is determined, not by the best experience they deliver when things are going right, but instead by the worst experience delivered. The worst guest experience should still be pretty good.

And when it's not, a company's first response should be to really bend over backwards to make it right. Not to try and lie to the public that you have a policy of delivering a consistent, high quality experience..

At Norwegian Cruise Line, we continuously aim to offer the best vacation experience for all our guests. As part of our Norwegian Edge program, Norwegian Sun is currently undergoing enhancements to better serve our guests. The program is a significant investment designed to ensure every ship across the fleet delivers a consistently high-quality experience to all of our guests. While we do our utmost to minimize any impact on the guest experience when these enhancements are taking place, we recognize that in this situation our guests have experienced some inconvenience. As a gesture of our gratitude for our guests' patience and understanding, we will be extending a future cruise credit of 25% of their cruise fare paid, which can be applied towards another cruise of their choice from now through March 31, 2019.

Somebody should seriously alert the real Norwegian Cruise Line! They've obviously been hacked by someone, probably their competitors, trying their best to anger NCL customers and potential future customers. No company in their right mind would post something so obviously insincere and untrue.

"The program is a significant investment designed to ensure every ship across the fleet delivers a consistently high-quality experience to all of our guests."

Subjecting paying customers to that kind of odor and mess, in the confined space of a ship, has nothing to do with delivering a consistently high-quality experience to all of your guests. Granted, it might be an attempt to spruce up the ship for future guests at the expense of current ones, but a "consistently high-quality experience" means giving that high-quality experience to every guest, even the ones that book a cruise before dry dock.

It's not like this was out of NCL's control. The Norwegian Edge program is something NCL did intentionally. They claim it is a significant investment, and they're probably right. It wasn't an accident, an Act of God, a storm, or other situation beyond their control. They spent a lot of money knowingly scheduling this and planning it, knowing how it would impact the experiences of their guests. They planned to screw these guests over, hoping they could pacify them with the offer of 25% off on a cruise during the coming year.

Once again I got to call BS on that. CO2 is an inert gas. As long as you are breathing oxygen in and out you can't get enough concentration of CO2 to make you pass out, or "grey out" as said in the article. That story is nothing more than supposition. The dive shop owner has vested interest in selling his own equipment.

If you claim CO2 is an inert gas, you have no credibility whatsoever.

http://www.uigi.com/MSDS_gaseous_CO2.html

Carbon Dioxide is a powerful cerebral dilator. At concentrations between 2 and 10%, Carbon Dioxide can cause nausea, dizziness, headache, mental confusion, increased blood pressure and respiratory rate. Above 8% nausea and vomiting appear. Above 10%, suffocation and death can occur within minutes.

The policy is there for a very good reason. Although most pregnant women enjoy all kinds of activities without experiencing complications, there's no way of knowing for certain in advance which ones might experience premature labor. At 24 weeks, the baby may be viable if delivered, but will need lots of serious care to survive, and may suffer complications requiring lifelong medical care. A cruise ship doesn't have a labor and delivery unit, nor a neonatal intensive care unit onboard. The potential suffering is huge, as is the potential liability.

A family that will go on TV to complain about how badly they were treated at being denied boarding is probably the kind that would go on TV and/or to court to complain about how the rudimentary medical care on the ship caused their baby's death or caused their baby's handicap that will require a lifetime of expensive medical care. As bad as the suffering of the guests and poor publicity for Disney from a denied boarding is, it's nothing compared to suffering of the guests and poor publicity that might happen due to premature labor with no adequate medical facilities nearby.

That's why the policy is spelled out in the contract and printed in the booklet you receive before the cruise, and why the question is asked on the embarkation form, both paper and online.

Perhaps Disney could have handled the situation in a more gracious way -- we weren't there to see exactly how things played out. But I'm not the least bit surprised that Disney agents were extremely firm in not allowing the expectant mother to board.

best to use pesos vs dollars??:o

Best to use local currency, whatever that is for the country you're visiting.

But my experience is that, in areas that get lots of tourist traffic from the US (which would include most cruise ship ports in North America and the Caribbean), most merchants will accept US dollars, but often at a poor exchange rate. Don't expect them to give you change in US currency. And US coins are all but worthless outside of the US, so don't annoy people by trying to spend them.

If you're going to be spending much, it may be worthwhile to visit an ATM and withdraw some local currency. If you're just going to be buying a couple of drinks at a bar and some cheap local trinkets, it may not be worth the trouble -- consider the poor exchange rate a form of "tourist tax".

The one exception I've found to this is Belize, where one US dollar is worth two Belizean dollars, and either type of currency is accepted anywhere at that exchange rate.

But I agree with others; if you want more specific answers, at least tell us what kind of pesos and what kind of dollars you're talking about, and where you'll be spending them.

There are at least three entities that may have requirements which you must meet:

The US Customs and border protection has requirements. They do NOT require a passport for any lawful permanent resident (green card holder) to enter the US, whether via cruise ship, airplane, or whatever. The Green Card is the only document required for entry to the US. That makes sense, because the US issues Green Cards only after the individual has been subject to a thorough vetting, and the US can trust the Green Card it issued more than they would trust a passport issued by a foreign government.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1191/kw/traveling%20outside%20of%20the%20US%20documents%20needed

But the country or countries you will be visiting may have their own requirements, and may require a passport. Some countries near the US have less stringent requirements for US LPRs than the would have for other citizens of the same country who did not hold a US Green Card. But I'm not up to date on Mexican requirements. I would suspect they'd want a passport, but it's worth checking if a green card is sufficient.

The cruise line may impose its own requirements, and they may be more stringent than the requirements of the US government or the government of foreign ports where you'll be visiting. So whatever you hear from the governments, you must check with the cruise line and be absolutely certain you meet their requirements.

DCL is following the recommendations of the US State Department and has canceled those Cozumel excursions that involve travel to another island.

 

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2018/03/select-cozumel-port-adventures-unavailable-following-security-alert-us-embassy-mexico/

Minor point of correction: Playa del Carmen is on the mainland, not another island. I recognize most of the locations mentioned in that letter, and all the ones I recognize are also on the mainland.

But, we aren't big fans of crowds.

This one phrase makes me cautious about recommending a cruise, though you might like it.

I like lots of different travel styles, and cruising isn't quite my favorite, but it has its highlights, and I enjoy it occasionally.

The thing I like about cruising is that, once you step aboard, you can do as much or as little as you want. There are no important deadlines. While there may be a set time for formal dinner, you're under no obligation to go, and if you miss a formal dinner, there will always be plenty of food available elsewhere on the ship, including free room service. Sure, there are other scheduled activities and shows, but they're all optional. While you're on the ship, the logistics are totally up to the crew. Food appears, and dirty plates magically disappear. Most of the travel happens while you're asleep. Your hotel is your vehicle, and it's a vehicle without seatbelts. You can roam around at your leisure, or stay in your room if you wish. If you're the type who enjoys relaxing on the balcony, you can do as much of that as you please (provided you get a balcony stateroom).

When you go ashore, you do have to be mindful of the time, because it is absolutely vital to be back on board before the ship sails -- they won't hold up a 3,000 passenger vessel for two tourists who should have known better. (if I arrive at the ship an hour before they tell us to be on board, I feel like I'm late). But when you're on board, just relax.

The thing I dislike about cruising is that there is no mistaking that you are experiencing mass-produced, industrialized tourism. Depending on your ship, there are something like 3,000 other tourists aboard. When you go into a small port, all of you invade the same small town at once, and you all have just a few hours to see something, spend some money, and get back to the ship. You won't get to experience a sleepy tropical port town's character that way. On board the ship, there can be crowds and lines for popular activities. Mealtimes can be a bustle. Getting on and off the ship, especially at tender ports, can involve some waiting in line.

Is it for you? I don't know, maybe. A week at a sleepy not-so-developed beach town in Central America might suit you better. Maybe.

If you live in Fl and have the Fl enhanced drivers license, you can go to the dmv and they will give you a real ID compliant DL that can be used for cruising.

But Florida is not one of the five states that offer Enhanced Driver's Licenses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Drivers_License

Florida does offer a REAL-ID compliant driver's license, but that's not the same thing, and it's not sufficient to prove citizenship nor to cross international borders. For a closed loop cruise, it could prove identity, but you'd need something else in addition to prove citizenship. A birth certificate would be the most likely choice.

It's not cruising yet, but Virgin Voyages, https://www.virginvoyages.com has its first ship under construction, scheduled to sail in 2020. A major part of the marketing is that all cruises will always be adults-only. Nobody under 18 allowed.

And yet...

 

I am very well traveled and savvy to pickpockets. Yet I had my wallet stolen in Barcelona, from my zippered shoulder bag that was held under my arm. A push or a shove when I was getting on or off the HOHO bus is probably when it happened, but they were so good that I was fully unaware. Luckily I had only a little cash and one credit card + one debit card in it. My passport, thank goodness, was in my room.

 

Also, my exDH, a very street-savvy New Yorker, was surrounded by gypsies midway down the Spanish steps in Rome pushing us and shoving cardboard sheets into us at about waist height to hide what they were doing below. Before either of us could react, they had located his money belt and had cut halfway through it before we were able to physically push them away. Another 20 seconds or so and it would've been gone.

 

Unless one wants to go the route of secreting things in body cavities or perhaps inserting into the bottom of one's shoe, I fail to see how one is fully protected when taking a passport (or anything equally valuable).

The pickpockets in Rome are the most skilled I've seen.

In areas like Rome I've used a PacSafe bag. It's padlocked to my waist, and the zippers are padlocked shut. The waist strap has steel aircraft cable inside, so can't be cut with box cutters or a knife. There's also steel webbing integrated with the fabric, so the bag can't be cut open with a knife.

It's not secure against armed robbers, and sturdy wire cutters would open easily, but it's about as secure as I can imagine against pickpockets. It worked well for us in Rome.

We always leave our Passport Book in our cabin safe unless we are told by the ship to take it with us.

We do use our Passport Card as our Government Photo ID so take it with us along with our cruise card.

Having the passport card with you while on shore is good ID, and proof of US Citizenship, but if you need air travel due to an emergency or missing the ship, you'll still have to go to the nearest US consulate to get a passport book.

If you're US citizens with both passport books and cards, assuming the cruise starts and ends at a US port, one strategy would be to use the passport CARD as your official ID for leaving/entering the US on the cruise, keeping it on the ship in the safe during the whole cruise. And carry the passport book with you on excursions, in as secure a way as you can. That way, if the passport book gets stolen while you're on shore, you still have a way to re-enter the US at the home port, and you don't need to worry about getting an immediate replacement (though you should still immediately report it as stolen, to reduce the chance that it be used for nefarious purposes). And if you get left behind and the ship sails without you, you still have a passport book which can be directly used for air travel to catch up with the ship or to return home. You're covered for both possibilities that people commonly worry about, with no need to find a US Consulate abroad.

Only downside is that the passport books are more cumbersome to carry around than the passport cards.

Princess would be appropriate for Disney, except that it's kind of already taken in the cruise industry. I'd expect it to be vetoed by the trademark lawyers, and/or the marketing people.

I'd expect something along the lines of Imagination, Wish, Inspiration, Adventure, Odyssey, or Story.

Interesting - though a real shame the reporter said "carbon monoxide" instead of carbon dioxide in the video.

Yes, that grated on my ears, too. It was absolutely wrong, but then, we all knew what she meant. I've heard worse from journalists.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/drown-hawaii-bay-area-maui-full-face-snorkel-mask-12547806.php

There is still some speculation, but there may be reason to be wary of full-face snorkel masks.

With a traditional snorkel, you breathe in and out through the tube. As you exhale, you fill the tube with the air leaving your lungs. Then, when you begin to inhale, you inhale one snorkelful of that same air you just exhaled. But as you continue to inhale, you will be drawing fresh air in through the top of the snorkel down into your lungs.

As long as the snorkel is relatively small, this isn't a problem. Your lungs are so much bigger than the snorkel that the amount of re-breathed air is negligible. You're getting almost completely fresh air.

A full face snorkel uses a different method for making sure that you're not rebreathing your own exhaled air. Because the volume of the mask around your face is much larger than the volume of a traditional snorkel, the full face snorkel mask has a series of one-way mechanical valves, and separate paths for inhaling versus exhaling. But those valves are possible points of failure. If they fail to operate properly, you may start exhaling air into the space that you'll be inhaling from. Then you'll be re-breathing your own carbon dioxide, instead of drawing in fresh air with each breath.

My suggestion would be, at the very least, if you're considering a full face snorkel mask, get a very high quality one, and carefully maintain it according to instructions. Don't let sand get near the valves. And use a buoyancy vest, swimming within your limits so that, if the mask isn't working perfectly, you will be very safe ditching the mask and swimming without it. And follow all the other normal water safety advice, such as being with a buddy, etc.

But personally, I'm not going to touch one of those full-face snorkel masks.

I'm a certified SCUBA diver with over 70 open water dives under my dive belt, and a bunch of snorkeling experience that I haven't kept track of. I use a traditional low-volume mask, and a separate snorkel, with no valves or other moving parts.

The first lesson in my SCUBA diving class was how to use the mask. And the first thing they taught us was how to take the mask completely off, put it back on, and clear the water from it, while we were in water over our head. The second week's lesson added the snorkel, and again, we learned to take it off, put it on, and clear it while in the water (hint: if you stay in normal face-down position and try to blow the water out, it takes a LOT of effort, because you're pushing the water up. But if you look to the sky, pointing your snorkel down, a gentle breath as you reach the surface is all it takes to clear the snorkel.)

Another tip: The way to check the fit of a mask is to put it on your face, without the strap, then inhale through your nose, and let go of the mask. If you can suck it onto your face just by inhaling, and keep it attached to your face as you move your face around, then it's sealing pretty well and it fits you. If there are leaks around the edges, the vacuum seal will be broken, and the mask will fall off your face. That mask didn't fit you. This method of testing a mask fit won't work with full-face snorkel masks, though.

If you can get a local dive shop to give you snorkeling lessons before you go snorkeling on a trip, I encourage you to do so.

That article is interesting. Many of the reasons boil down to, "people will be impressed by the fact that you have a passport". That's about the least effective motivation for me to get a passport, I'm afraid.

Everyone in my family maintains passports, because we travel internationally by air every couple of years, and we have relatives who live overseas.

The reasons I would give for having a passport are things like:

1. It makes it easy to take a spur-of-the-moment international trip to anywhere in the world, whether for business or pleasure.

2. It provides a redundant form of ID in case your primary ID is ever stolen.

3. As the REAL-ID laws go into effect, you can rest assured that a passport will let you board a domestic flight, regardless of whether your state drivers license complies with all the new rules.

4. It makes it really easy to fill out an I-9 (employment eligibility verification) if you get a new job, because that one document provides proof of identity, birthdate, and citizenship, all at once.

5. You can take your own passport photo, or have it taken professionally, so with any care, you can get a photo ID that's not as embarrassingly bad as the photo on a driver's license.

I'd say this list of benefits starts out pretty strong, but gets pretty weak very quickly.