jsn55

Panama Canal Quebec to Boston Small Ships almost anywhere UK circumnavigation Any river cruise in Europe; Avalon has three activity levels to chose from every day. Sailing with the old farts ain't that bad, you know ... they don't want to hike with you, but they can offer great conversation and very good company on the ship.

We did Royal Caribbean through Panama Canal at Christmas several years ago. Wonderful cruise, I was blown away by all the festivities. However, we have no children and our families live in snow country, so we are always amusing ourselves at Christmas. I'd do that cruise again in a heartbeat ... don't remember much about the ports except for Miraflores where the monster ships go through the lock right in front of your face. I could have spent two days there absorbing it all.

You are so right! Plus, there's an arrogance/superiority issue. People who don't use a phone often should rebel against the 'enforced app use'. People who have a phone growing out of their hands seem to feel quite superior and enjoy making the parties of the first part feel stupid. All you have to do is read 25 pages of this thread to see examples. I met a guy over the weekend at a Doubletree Hotel in Seattle, young guy with a phone in his back pocket ... that tells me he uses his phone often. He was trying to do some laundry but unable ... because the machines only worked with an app!! He was not happy having to jump through all the hoops to get the system operational on his phone.

Yeah, I enjoyed fooling around with it onboard. By that time I had read many pages of this thread, so I didn't feel like such a fool not being able to 'get ocean read' with my phone.

True. Since several people have asked, perhaps the signature is not part of the post, eh? Why so argumentative, Minnesota?

You're proving my point perfectly. Unless you're familiar with the whole subject, the system doesn't work well. For example, how would anyone know what the "app is officially known as the Princess App" if they've never encountered it before? You understand the system, but lots of others do not. Thanks for this great example.

The whole medallion thing is awful. Try once more the week before your cruise. Then gather up all your docs and check in as always. It's not worth trying to make it work, but you might have some fun with it once onboard. About all it does is flash your photo as you approach your cabin. WOW!!! It was very exciting. But you can play around with it, I found it rather entertaining. For the record, you need to order your medallion no later than 12 days before sailing. I wouldn't even bother, pick it up when you check in.

Oh my, you should read this thread just for the fun education about how Princess does communication. What you describe is a very minor problem in comparison to all the rest of the problems.

Perhaps too simple ... but I would make a list of everything that everyone wants to do on the cruise. Find out if those things are included or if there's an extra charge. Then you'll know just what the cruise will cost each pax. People seem to see extra fees as a negative. I see them as a good way to offer extra goodies to those who want them. Those who don't want them pay a lower net cost for the cruise. Why should I subsidize the cost of Specialty Restaurants, for instance? We find the included dining on NCL just great. The Drinks Package is a very good deal because we drink cocktails and have wine and champagne every night. (I sometimes have a glass of champagne at a late lunch, than take a nap after, great fun.) I'd be paying a gratuity anyway, so NCL is doing me a favor by charging me upfront. I tip in cash, I consider the prepaid gratuities part of the basic cost of the cruise. I want to show direct appreciation for any service I receive. The credits for ShoreX make them reasonable and sometimes I want a ship's excursion instead of making independent arrangements. There are probably a gazillion other things to do on a ship that may or may not cost extra. You just need to find out what the fees are for the activities your group wants. And of course you ARE being controlling and meticulous. That attention to detail makes for a very good trip in my experience!

Some solid advice ... just train yourself not to care what anyone calls you. This is a very simple problem with an equally-simple solution. Nobody else cares, you're the one with the issue, so just make up your mind to not let it be an issue. I'm not sure why some members on this board go on and on about their reaction to your story ... just ignore them. Your feelings are yours, not anyone else's to be critical about. If you fix the situation yourself, you can move on and continue enjoying the pleasures of travel.

Continued ... so I've been coloring my hair since I was 17. I am now (a very young) 77. It was naturally curly/wavy and was a gorgeous auburn color, nobody knew that I colored it. Then the FDA took Red Dye #whatever off the market because they fed a quart of it to a rat and the rat died. My auburn hair would fade away in a couple of weeks. So I then just had my brown hair highlighted every few months. God forbid I should just have grey hair. I've never needed to 'style my hair', I just put a roller in my bangs and brush it all off my face. About ten years ago, my hair just started 'getting ugly' ... wiry, it never looked quite right. I attributed it to old age. Last time I was in for a cut and highlight, Lieu started going on about this Japanese hair masque stuff. I have NEVER believed any advertising of any personal care item in my life ... I know that 'protein does not penetrate the hair shaft' and you can't get rid of wrinkles with an expensive cream ... most everything is just hype aimed at gullible women. But for some reason I told Lieu to go ahead this time. She used "milbon professional illuminating glow #6". Formulated in Japan, made in Thailand, imported/distributed from New York. I was stunned that my hair looks seriously good again ... people actually remark on it. It costs $90 and lasts 2 months. I told my husband that I don't care what it costs, I'll keep using it the rest of my life! Lieu owns the salon, so she gives me a discount. I expect it's a type of keratin treatment, but really don't know. And don't care! I just think that it's best to get stuff like this done by a real professional; stylists on cruise ships never see their clients again, so they may not offer the same level of expertise.

I think you should carve out a bit of time and have a real stylist do this the week before your cruise. Who knows what kind of person you'd get on a cruise and whether they have any expertise or not? I just had some new Japanese hair masque (my very first experience with anything like this). I'll get the details and post them in a couple of days, I'm travelling. The masque was a resounding success. My hair looks as good as it did ten years ago.

The medallion app hasn't worked properly since its inception ... there are 223 posts in this thread. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes it's not. All depends on various factors. I found the medallion worked quite often onboard, but before the cruise left, it was a nightmare trying to get everything settled on the website and/or the app. Pax should expect to have to verify their IDs occasionally, but obviously the system wasn't functioning at all during your cruise.

And then, of course, there's the joy of endless shopping for just the right accessories for the new duds. I don't like to pack a lot of jewelry, so I'm always looking for 'just the right earrings' for that new shirt, then I don't need anything else. I consider shopping expeditions part of my daily exercise, of course.

If you're under a cafe, you might be subject to all kinds of things ... worst of which would be the early-morning cleaning and setting up, or the late night whatever. There's no way to know until you are cruising along. I avoid cabins with any possibility of excess noise on any ship.

I would suggest that you communicate with NCL via email. Start with customer service, compose a concise, polite letter laying out the facts and stating exactly what you want. Give them two weeks, then escalate to the executives, one by one. Be polite, persistent and patient. Your problem is their fault, but the person reading your email didn't cause the problem ... you want that person to understand your issue in one reading, and want to help you. You can get help at no charge from Consumer Rescue, run by my good friend Michelle Couch Friedman, if you're not successful with NCL on your own.

That's me! We travelled for years, mostly independently, but now husband tired of it all, next cruise after October will be Avalon Provence to Normandy in April. Look forward to meeting everyone as we sail from Barcelona.

I'm never put off by the 'extra charges' for things that I want. I consider it all part of the cruise cost. When comparing two cruises, just get out a legal pad and a calculator. Add up the REAL costs to you for what YOU like and want. I've always been negative about Carnival because of all the stories ... drunks carousing around most of the night. The brawl that surged up and down several decks a while ago because someone's wife was 'having an affair' ... on a cruise ship!!?! Who wants to be around low-lifes like that? Regardless of your choice, there's no such thing as a bad cruise as long as your expectations are realistic.

Well, sure, but what if I want to do some of the things that Princess says I can do with the app ... like becoming Ocean Ready and CHECKING in? It sounded like so much fun to be able to order a drink and have it delivered ... like one guy did in the middle of the Captain's Wife's presentation at 10am?!

It's been mentioned many times that some people have no issue with medallion at all, including a good friend of mine. Some of us are just not intuitive about technology, and we expect a cruiseline to set up a system that works for MOST pax, not just a few. I'm a whiz on a computer, for example, but I certainly wasn't the first few years. Many of us use our phones sporadically, so it will take us forever to become proficient. Therefore, it falls to the travel provider to provide a good product, and/or alternatives. Nobody wants to be dictated to, forced to use a system that may or may not work, a system that has been flawed for YEARS. Some of us feel that the paying customer deserves decent customer service. So I'm giving my business to cruiselines who are interested in me as a customer.

But don't get a new phone just to run medallion ... it may or may not work. If the medallion doesn't work today, it might work tomorrow ... or not. I lost my mind trying to make it work for a cruise last Christmas. From my experience, and what I've gathered from reading this thread is that most of the issues occur before boarding. You can do almost everything on a computer if the phone app is not cooperating. Much of the stuff 'required' on the phone app, like green lines for boarding and booking dining, turns out not to be required at all.

Agree! I've never travelled with jeans or sweatshirts. I like to look a little more presentable ...and keeping them clean and dry is a real problem.

Ugh, that's the kind of thing that can ruin a trip quickly. Put a white noise app on your phone ... I haven't travelled without a 'sound machine' in 40 years. As for Viking, one Yangtze River cruise/China tour in 2019 was enough for us. Viking's all about quantity, and the quality suffers. After all, who do you think pays for all that advertising???

Even tho I'm an old lady, my face isn't 'dry' so the baby wash seems like a smart choice; I assume there are few chemicals added to it. Other than sunscreen if I'm going to be out working, I never remember to use moisturizer. Dry skin might need more moisturizer in a wash.

Well, hopefully they'll get this all tied up without too much discombubulation. I was very happy to read that Civitavecchia has moved to a few miles north of Roma. It won't take an hour to get into town for the sightseeing.