Hydrokitty

All have raised good points and they all make sense....but when it comes down to it, for me an aft cabin is better than any cabin any where else. I LOVE the uninterrupted view, I don't miss the wind because the rest of the ship blocks it and often the balcony is bigger. Only complaint I have on Equinox and other ships in her class is the loooong walk to the elevators.

My parents refuse to admit the level of my mothers’s needs so we have to sneakily help so they don’t feel useless and get angry or depressed, I know it is a fine line and we are enabling them but they at 90 and 94 have earned the right to make decisions that won’t hurt them or someone else. Families;p :hearteyes: Again thank you all!

Thank you for pointing out how our need to be "independent" despite our limitations impact other family members who's only crime is they love us and don't want us to get hurt. I will try to keep that in mind next time one of my children/grandchildren try to help me with something and I tell them "I can DO it". :D

Yes, not mentioned.

We're on the same cruise with you. I called captains club for information and they confirmed that we do tender, the tenders will run all night long and there will always be one at the dock in Edinburgh so nobody has to stand on the pier alone waiting for a tender.....although we might have to wait on board the tender for a reasonable number of people. The ride in takes about 20 minutes.

I suggest a simpler method. Since there will be 6 other adults traveling, why not just set up a schedule where there is one of the traveling companions “on call” each morning. That person would stay in their cabin by the phone until Dad needed them. No cost, easy to manage,order breakfast to the room, and Dad wont fret about handling electronics that he is perhaps unfamiliar with.

 

 

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At first I was going to suggest OP get the internet package and use cel phones to communicate, but that assumes the 94 year old gentleman is somewhat tech savvy and sees well enough to text. I really like YOUR idea. In fact with their ages and one of them dependent, I would strongly suggest that someone be with them at all times. Like an adjoining cabin so there's privacy and security at the same time. As for people getting annoyed because you're talking to someone on a walkie-talkie or cel phone? Sorry.... to me it's THEM that are rude not OP....we spend waaay to much time watching what others are doing so we can find fault. Just MHO.

When I booked I was placed on a wait list for 6 PM MDR and was given Select Dining (Anytime). Today I was sent a new invoice and the dining choice was listed as CEL SLCT(6:00 PM). Am I still wait listed or do I have the 6PM slot in the MDR.

If you need to have set dining at the same time each night call captain's club and tell them. DH is diabetic and has to eat at set intervals to keep his levels...first time I was wait listed for set dining I called CC and explained the situation and it was immediately changed to early dining and now when I book a cruise I am automatically given early dining, ranging between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. due to medical reasons.

Hello All !

Should I buy online excursions before boarding? I have the problem of Euro Dollar exchange, I do not know whether to keep the 300 dollars to spend on board or whether to book an excursion online and have the rest on board, what do you recommend? thank you so much

I'm in the US and I always buy most of my shore excursions on line as soon as they post them because 1). they're cheaper on line;

2). I'm more likely to get the excursions I want before they sell out and 3). I can spread out paying for them over several months. I like to keep my OBC and use it for Christmas shopping for things like perfume that's considerably less on board than in US.

If you stay overnight in many Southampton hotels they will do you a very reasonable parking package.

The Holiday Inn is one of them and has a car parking package....not certain if it's free especially for that long....but you can walk to the ship from the dock.

You said call them. You can check out Choice Air from the Celebrity website. I booked ours online.

 

Cruise & Flight Packages; Flights by Celebrity | Celebrity Cruises

Of course you are right , but I prefer to book them on the phone that way if there's any "glitch" it can be handled immediately....and as far as I know it costs the same to book on the phone and is does on line.

We are at sea again today due to weather and thus won't be visiting St Petersburg on this cruise

 

 

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oh no...that is too bad. :(

It depends on where you're coming from and where you're going.

 

The Captain will spin the ship probably so you can see it from both sides.

 

We were on the port side and that was the side we were able to first see it from. It's fantastic in person.

I take pictures so I would stand on the pool deck or one of the other open decks where you can see in all directions. I would also wear a surgical or painter's face mask to avoid breathing in any dust or fumes.

Thank you so much for the information. I think I will call them.

 

 

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I do the same as Barwick does. If we're flying domestic (FLL or MIA) I book my own on Southwest, but if we're flying overseas I use Choice Air because we like to fly business and the prices are as much as 50% less! First I select the airline (usually either Lufthansa, KLM or Virgin Atlantic) then I select my flights from the airline's web page and THEN I call Choice and tell them who I want to fly and where I want to leave and return to. I always pick a second choice, but I've never had to use it and if you want to fly business you'll get the best deals from choice.

Do back to back cruisers get to return to their cabins upon re-boarding, please? We get "In Tranasit" cards on RCI and can return immediately to our cabins and not wait for the announcement that cabins are ready.

There will be a meeting the day before last day and I suggest you attend it because you will be given all the information you need. On our B2B we were taken from the theater around 10 a.m. and our sea passes were voided and new ones handed to us at which time we were free to leave the ship. We were in Southampton and spent a wonderful day in that city but we did not HAVE to leave the ship. It is my understanding that our cabins would be unavailable until 1 p.m. but I imagine if you needed something t hey would allow you in. The public areas were all available. When we returned to the ship we reboarded as we did in every other port....no lines, no wait, immigration or customs.

Sometimes either one will work. If the flight is much cheaper flying into MIA or FLL, it worth staying near the airport no matter where your ship is. Then just call for uber. Check prices of hotels at both locations as well.

Absolutely....we fly into FLL all the time on Southwest and it takes about 45 minutes (on average) to get from FLL to Port of Miami (if there's 2 of you they use the HOV lane). I don't like Uber so I use Go airport shuttle and have never had a problem. We do fly in the day before especially for a winter cruise because where we live we never know when it will snow...sometimes we stay in Miami at the Hampton Inn at the airport, which is within very easy walking to fantastic restaurants and has a shuttle to the port (not free but cheap) and sometimes we stay in Lauderdale at the Hilton Garden Inn which has free airport pick-up and a restaurant and a shuttle to Port Everglades (not sure if it's free because we haven't sailed FROM Lauderdale yet)

Murf’s Law.

Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared.

Dentemp!

Yup...that's the one. I carry it in my first aid kit.

Didn’t know you could even purchase a dental emergency kit. So, they should be available either at your dentist, or your local pharmacy?

What does it include?

 

 

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I got mine in one of the chain drugstores....I think it was CVS but it could have been Walgreen's or any of the others. I have seen them since then. It contains a tiny jar of something that's like paste (hard to describe, you put it on with the tool that's included and it hardens) and instructions. It took me several tries before I got it right but then it hardened and I could eat anything. Dentist even said it was good. I don't remember the exact price but it was under $10 for sure. Look where they have toothpaste and mouthwash and it should be hanging with things like numzit and floss picks. I had no idea you could buy something like that and asked the pharmacist at the store for something to fill a lost filling that was huge and he brought me right over to it, so apparently it's not too unusual!

Might not be the right board for my question, but couldn't find another so...

For those who've hired a private tour guide - what's appropriate when it's time to have lunch? There are going to be just two of us + the guide. I can't imagine asking him to wait while we have a leisurely meal at an expensive restaurant... but yikes, paying for another person when lunch is a fortune isn't something we'd thought about. Feeling pretty silly here....

I think it depends upon the rapport you have with your driver/guide. Our driver in Bermuda took us to St. George and suggested a place for lunch.....we invited him to join us and he politely declined and said he was "meeting friends"....in Edinburgh we've hired a guide with whom I've had more than a few on line chats and she is making dinner reservations for us. I have not only invited her but begged her to join us for dinner. So, I think it has to be a spur of the moment type thing. I also think you'll get more info on the board for your port.

The next time you are at your dentist's office, just ask your dentist or hygienist for one of those little emergency repair kits that they give out to patients for free.

I pick one up from our dentist's office each time before I get ready to leave on a trip.

It's an old corollary of Murphy's Law - a crown will pop off if I don't have a little repair kit with me.

As long as I bring one along, the crowns behave themselves and I don't need it.

I didn't know that....I will ask him before out next cruise because of course you're right about not needing anything you have with you!!!

DH broke a tooth in 2017 in Aruba. I picked up a dental repair kit, the kind for temporary fillings. It was about $10 US.

 

We now carry one with us all the time.

We weren't on a cruise but I lost half a tooth in Denver eating a scrambled egg no less! It was a Sunday so we stopped at a CVS and I bought a kit for dental repair. It took a few tries with the dental paste but I finally got it to work and called my dentist for an appointment the day after we got home. He was impressed with how good it worked and now I never travel without it.

Passport.

 

Bad show.

 

I don’t recommend.

 

- Joel

Yeah....that's major!!! Where were you and what did you do? Just in case some of us find ourselves in a similar situation we'll know what to do!! :D

Apologies for misunderstanding the question.

 

 

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You're not alone, Honey!! ;p

Definitely bring a wrap of some kind to MDR.

I guess it was about 24 years ago when I took my first cruise. I forgot my birth control pills. On the upside, I have a wonderful, fabulous 23 y/o daughter!!

Definitely need a LIKE button!!! :D We went to Bermuda (not honeymoon) and came home with undeclared twins!!!

It should be quite pleasant......if it isn't raining...I would dress for warm weather and be prepared with a pair of jeans, hoodie and rain jacket.

PS: We're doing same cruise August 6.

But to respond to original post: On our last cruise I forgot our boarding passes! Fortunately, it didn't matter but I had a very uneasy night at the hotel pre-cruise.

I packed a lovely pair of silver sandals. Unfortunately it was a left from one pair and a right from another.:o

I did that once with one black and one brown shoe.......we were in Kansas City so when asked about my shoes being different, I just smiled and said "oh, that's all the rage in NYC""