misty57

My MIL used to sell nutritional supplements and Neo LIfe ( I'm not even sure it is still called that) had that product and that was back in the 90's. Who knew?

Thanks.. it's back. I didn't know it was *common* knowledge that the website goes down for maintenance on Saturday nights. I keep checking to see if I can get a significant price reduction. I can get a guarantee category for about $150 total less, but I really like my location now, so it would have to be more than that to make me switch. I might upgrade for the same price I paid :rolleyes

My reservation for February has disappeared from the website! I have misplaced my invoice so have no reservation number on hand. I sure hope they are just upgrading us to a suite or something (yeah I know, not likely).

:eek:

The problem is that the virus can be transmitted by contact with bodily secretions. You don't have to see them for them to have been on a surface. If someone who is contagious coughs into their hand and then touches a common surface, there you go. If you observe people you will see them unconsciously touch their face, wipe their nose or eyes, bite their nails or believe it or not, suck their thumb ( yes I have seen adults do this in public!)

When we fly I will be wiping off the seat trays, arm rests and if I use the facilities I will carry a wipe to wipe off the surfaces I touch. All you can do is be careful and decrease your risk by being aware of that risk according to the geographic area.

I may not have understood the comment someone made about the latest nurse who has contracted the virus as it being related to carelessness.. but if you are referring to her being careless, you obviously do not have experience with isolation procedures. The common protective gear used for contact isolation in hospitals is woefully inadequate and transmission is possible.It is very difficult to put on and take off without contamination. The fact that she flew, the news says that she called the CDC and was cleared. In health care the CDC is the ultimate reference for all things related to infectious diseases.

I always join the roll call but never go to meet and mingles. DH isn't interested and I really don't want to have to go to another "meeting". I vacation to get away from all that:D

I usually stop posting when the posts become that "back and forth" thing, but still lurk. One roll call several years ago was very helpful and we joined a tour which ended up being one of the best ones we have taken. That is really the only reason to join and the banter is one reason not to join in my opinion. I try to avoid optional things that make me feel bad.

With the current concern for the safety of flying ( illness related), I am looking at our airfare and found a slight drop on one leg of our trip. Has anyone had experience with getting a credit with Southwest? I want the same flight, so I am kind of nervous about canceling and rebooking. Should I call them or just cancel and rebook?

We have always done traditional dining and even when waitlisted for early dining we ended up just where we wanted to be. Last cruise we did MTD as for the two of us it became more and more unpleasant and we became unhappy with having to rush to get to the shows or dread dinner because of our tablemates. We really liked it. I no longer dread dinner, and on Rhapsody we had no problem getting a table, even though the advanced reservations I made on line somehow disappeared and we had to make nightly reservations because of our late excursions. I am confident that your dinner arrangements will sort out and you will be fine! Just keep checking with them even if you do MTD, you will have a fabulous time. There are so many dining options on the larger ships that sometimes the MDR is pretty empty. :)

On our most recent cruise they had the little individual cups of creamer like you get at the grocery, but by mid cruise they only had a carafe of milk available.( they did have cream on the dining tables, but I hate having to have it passed.. my arms are short and it is always out of reach) I brought my own flavored creamer, a few with me for breakfast, dinner and for the afternoon coffee in the solarium. The 24 pack lasted me all week and then some. I packed in my checked luggage, and never had a problem with using them. In fact, in Chops I said I had my own creamer and our waiter laughed and said ,"Royal would love that!" I even put one in my pocket once... the containers are pretty sturdy.

:)

Thanks. We cruise mostly from S. Florida, which is where we live so this would not be a big issue for us most of the time. When we cruised the southern Caribbean we did a day trip immediately following disembarking from the ship and out luggage met us at the airport. What you describe for many would probably be very valuable. The price is surely reasonable.

Yes I believe we did this in San Juan.

We chose Indy because of the extra night, departure port FLL is so easy to navigate and we have not been to St Kitts. I really prefer the Southern Caribbean but DH dislikes the longer flight to SJ. We have been on Liberty once and Freedom twice. Its nice that it has the perks of the larger ships and being a little larger than the voyager class. After this we will have sailed on all the ships in this class.:)

I have been on 15 cruises and have our 16th booked for Indy departing on Valentines Day, February 14, 2015 and have never heard the phrase "luggage valet"......so what exactly is it that Indy, may not have....that I may not even have missed on my past cruises.

The luggage valet is where you pay about $20 pp and surrender your luggage at the port after going through customs. It goes to the airport and you see it when you get to your destination. That is the process we followed when we did it one time. It may be a little different now and may differ depending on the port, I don't know. The nice thing is that you don't have to lug it around before your flight.. which frees you up if you want to do some shopping or sightseeing before you fly home. There is a cut off for the time of your flight. They have to have time to get it to the plane before you take off:D!

When doing traditional dining we would usually let our table mates and waiter know if we were dining elsewhere, but sometimes it just was that we had a late lunch or something. So I began telling everyone that if we didn't show up within a few minutes of the start time that we were not coming and not to wait for us. We kind of like to decide at the last minute to change plans so we tried MTD this last cruise and loved it

Heres the like button everyone misses.

Yes!:D

The BOGOHO deal will be done by the time we get on the Allure, we need that deal to be able to take a 7 night cruise for 4. But it would be nice to pay $100 deposit and to have on board credit. But that doesn't make up for the 3rd & 4th guest being free.

 

 

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You just have to crunch the numbers. If it is less expensive to book for the deal then do that. $100 is nice but if you can save that much or more and you are sure that you want to take that cruise then book now. If you have the RCCL visa then you can easily get $100 on board credit by the time you sail, or you could transfer the booking to a TA that gives perks if you like to go that route. (I'm assuming you could transfer the booking, not really sure if they will do that with the savings, but it's an idea)

We really liked the Allure and have been on Freedom twice. Both are really nice ships with great staff.:)

Alcohol kills germs!!!! ;) Good idea about hand washing. Clean hands can save your life. :) Best advise is to look after yourself and enjoy. Mom was right. :D

Just poor the alcohol on your hands:D Over indulging in alcoholic beverages can affect the ability of your white blood cells to fight infection. Lots of variables involved, but if I am worried about getting sick I'm going to keep the imbibing to a minimum. That's probably the key to most everything.. moderation. Its also important to remain well hydrated.. so there ya go!

Maybe a better thread should be on how to decrease your risk of becoming ill. Yes, avoid close confines as much as possible. Hand washing is the biggest help. Eat well, try not to lose sleep. Avoid alcohol. Drink plenty of water. DH and I became ill from bad food in a hotel restaurant before flying to our cruise port. I became ill several days after the start of one cruise with a respiratory infection. I think most things we contracted were from venues before the actual cruise ship. If you are afraid of becoming ill on a cruise then find another past time. :rolleyes:

I also went in search of smart wool socks. I had never heard of them before, but went into Gander Mountain the other day and OH MY!! I bought one pair for DH and one for me... but they are so comfy! I know what I will be putting on my Christmas list :D We will save these for the dog musher camp excursion. I suppose we will be outside longer there.

Read that we might need rain pants but I wasn't about to spend the money on those so I found rain jacket and pants in a bag for men and women at Gander.

$14.99 versus $50-$100 for just pants that we probably would never wear again. If we don't need them they will go back to the store for refund. Between the new camera, the cost for excursions, the other clothing we had to buy... I have stopped adding everything up!

We've had one for quite a few years. I use it as my main credit card and use it for convenience as well as to accumulate points for OBC. We've been cruising twice a year for a while now, and I always cash it out for each cruise or OBC. It probably isn't the best pay out that is available from credit cards but it is specific and that means I can't use it for anything else. DH uses his CC for air points.

We almost always have plenty of OBC from our RCI Visa points and advanced booking. It allows us to splurge a little on dinners and DH likes to get a T shirt from each ship we sail. I will sometimes get a small gift for our little girls ( grandkids) on the ship. We almost always come away with a negative on our bill at the end of the cruise... sometime a few dollars owed but it takes the worry out of wondering what our bill will be at the end. I only have a few glasses of wine on board and use our loyalty tier coupons for that. We don't buy pictures and DH doesn't drink at all. We probably spend more off the ship in excursions and tips as well as eating off the ship. It usually isn't that good.. except in New England and Canada.

We have never used Southwest as our airline carrier, and our TA suggested we looked into it for the price, as an option and they are on the luggage valet program.

 

Well I am looking and one question well I cannot figure out how it works.

 

Now Southwest says they do not have assigned seats.

You board in zones.

 

Well how is it determined which zone you are in?

Is it first come to the airport first serve?

Or

Is it by the date you purchase your ticket.

 

I really dont want to have to worry about fighting for a seat with a vacation that is supossed to relax you.

 

We usually travel United or previously Continental, but keeping our options open.

 

We usually try to get a non-stop flight.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Sea Ya

We always purchase the early bird option so they assign our boarding group early. Im not sure if that depends on when you purchase it or not, but we have always been in the A (first boarding) group except for one time we were in a low number in the B group. Check in online 24 hours before your flight to find out what you get. Once you board the plane you just choose a seat! Its pretty nice. DH like the aisle seat and so I always sit in the middle. Have to get up a few times for the person sitting by the window but its ok. We will book Southwest whenever we can. Its simple and they usually fly out of airports that are smaller ( Midway Chicago vs Ohare). Look on their website. There is a lot of information there.

What type of "waterproof" pants do you bring? We plan to spray our athletic shoes with waterproofing.. Do you wear those pants over other pants or by themselves? We are doing a seaplane excursion, whale watching, and sled dog musher camp... any specific suggestions for these type of activities?

So sorry your wife is injured. Very bad timing not that anytime would be better... If you do end up going I'm sure you realize it won't be the vacation you had planned. There is also the risk of complications far from home as this will be less than a week after surgery. Most likely there will be some lingering fatigue.

Might be better to transfer bookings to a later date. Disappointing yes, but maybe a better idea for your wife. Hope for the best or you both.

Not personally, but I have heard that the tooth sensitivity afterward is terrible.. Not good on a cruise. I would suggest checking with your dentist about possibly using some toothpaste for sensitive teeth for a time before you do this.

They are really two different types of vacation. The Oasis is fun and so much to do with lots of options for dining. We enjoyed the ship and went twice , different itinerary each time. I liked the jewel as well, but it is smaller and more like a traditional ship. The Southern ports are great and I would not hesitate to book that cruise. I guess it would be like choosing between Disney and Hawaii. ::)

Thank you for the responses. I did use a next cruise cert but I don't know if I have it. The original reservation had to be revised because they had some incorrect information. I will wait until I have more information about needing to cancel. It would be good to be able to go because who knows when we would be able to do this together in the future?:(

Has anyone had to cancel their cruise after final payment and filed with the cruise line insurance for refund? Final payment for our once in a lifetime Alaskan cruise.. my dh's 60th birthday present from me was on 6/9. Yesterday he was diagnosed with Melanoma. We don't know what the treatment and recovery will be and whether we will have to cancel, but I was wondering if someone who has had to use their Cruise care insurance could fill me in on the first steps to take. This is probably the most expensive cruise we have every taken and excursions are already paid for as well as airfare.

If we have to cancel, that is not my concern but I would like to get our money back for obvious reasons.

I know I could call the cruise line and ask these questions but I don't have the emotional energy right now to deal with customer service. I will do that when I know more but if someone has some experience with this it would help.

Thanks!