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Having long term chronic back pain myself, I would suggest renting a mobility scooter. With a wheelchair, you will need a “pusher” unless you are able to maneuver it yourself. A scooter will give you independence on such a large ship. A regular transport scooter from Scootaround will fit through a standard cabin door and can be taken off the ship. I can’t tell you anything about excursions as we have been cruising so long, that we rarely get off the ship. 

I know, I know, I hate being one of those who are considered “inconsiderate” people by other cruisers, but I much rather be able to enjoy my cruise and not have to be everywhere my DH is or be dependent on him getting me from one place to another. Can it be a literal pain in the butt, yea but it is worth it to me to be able to enjoy my vacation and not be in constant pain. 

It can take time to get from one place to another or wait for an available elevator, but where else do I have to be? I have found that humor goes a long way when traveling with a scooter.

Also tell anyone with Carnival when you arrive at the port that you will need wheelchair assistance. It can be a looooong way to the ship. If I had to walk the entire way to board, well I would just have to stay home. Some days just getting to the bathroom seems more than my back will allow me to do and surgery is not an option. 

You should probably go to a local grocery store to practice. It does take some practice to understand how to turn, backup and know that it doesn’t stop on a dime. I hope that you find what will work best for you and enjoy your cruise.

We were told that the Rotterdam Bar at the back of the Promenade deck (9) before the Queen Mary Lounge would be changed into an Alchemy bar. Did that happen?

Thanks for your additional information and confirmation of other posts. I am fortunate that the only time I need oxygen is at night. I hope it stays that way, but you never know so the info concerning flying is good to know.

I also only need O2 at night. The company that I rent my home machine from does not do rentals for travel out of the country. I've rented the behemoth concentrator from Travelscoot, which is another approved cruise rental company. If you do this, be sure to take earplugs as you already know how much noise they make. (My machine is out in the family room as I don't sleep well with that amount of noise.) The machine will be in your cabin along with the tubing. (On our last cruise the backup machine was in the closet.)

I discussed the need of night O2 with my pulmonologist once I went onto a bipap machine. I was told that since it is so expensive to rent, I was ok to be without it for a week. You might want to check with your doctor as well.

If your son is on crutches still, he will need to use the elevator to get into the terminal, rather than the escalator. It is to the right of the valet parking kiosk. You should consider wheelchair assist, as knee surgery can be a b*****. (From a mom who has had to deal with a son with knee surgery.) I think that wheelchair assist starts at the elevator. They will take you through check-in and all the way to the atrium.

You might want to consider renting a wheelchair, as crutches get very tiresome after awhile. They aren't very expensive and that way you will have one if he should need it. Handicap muster is in the main theater. If he is in a wheelchair, they will let you in a little early. The theater is also used as muster station A and is packed like cattle, from the front row to the back, as close as you can sit. He will not have to walk up the stairs to get to the lifeboat if he is not able. If you have "registered" with Handicap Services, his name will be on their list as needing assistance. If you have not registered, it is no problem to stay in the theater after all the others leave to go the lifeboats. They can add him to the list then.

Not knowing his age, I know that my 19 yo would never have been able to make it on crutches 2 weeks after his MPFL. He was all tough and thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Turns out one of us had to help him get onto/off the bed/couch as he could not use his thigh muscles to lift or lower his leg. Took him about two weeks to be able to get around more easily, but it was still painful. So....don't forget his pain meds just in case.

Good luck and enjoy your vacation!

If you are asking about the martini class, it is on any of the ships that have an Alchemy bar. It is usually the afternoon of the last sea day. In the past is has been $15 but includes multiple small tasting martinis. There is also a limit of how many people they will allow at one time. It's an excellent "class" in the history of martinis, lets you taste the difference between alcohols and shows you the difference between adding say a strip of orange peel vs. squeezing the orange oil over the top of the drink.

Heidsieck, ‘Monopole Brut Rose’, Champagne, France

No longer available by the glass. Just off the Pride today :(

Just off the Splendor and got the multi-plug charger. It's in a small zip container so it's easy to pack.

As far as breaking the Tervis, they are fully guarantied. On the Tervis site there is a form to fill out to send with the pieces back to Tervis and they will replace the broken cup. They are made in the good ole' USA (Florida in fact).

OK another lurker here. I enjoy reading about all of your beautiful, wonderful and life changing companions. After seeing the mention of Bella and George, I wanted to also mention that George came from Service Dog Project in Ipswich, Mass. They have cameras from Explore.org on the property to show the daily lives of these amazing Great Dane service dogs. SDP raises and donates these dogs for those with balance issues.

In fact, last night, there were 5 new puppies born and you can watch them live on the nursery camera. They do all of the training and do not use puppy raisers. Carlene White is the owner and at 76 years old, does amazing work with the help of staff and volunteers. The new puppies will have someone with them and their mom 24/7 until their mom decides she has had enough. It is fun to watch them grow and start training as early as 3 weeks.

I support the work that they do and hope that each of you will go to the Explore.org site nursery cam to watch these 5 pups grow into what they are meant to be.

A few clothes pins so that you can hang wet bathing suits on the dryer cord in the shower.

Any cold type meds that you are use to using. Yes, I paid over $8 for a pack of Hall's throat lozenges for a sore throat. Also paid a fortune for plain Tylenol in Nassau. That bottle now gets refilled when packing.

Just off the Splendor. Did get everything mentioned above except for the padded bag. Wonder if I can contact Players Club to see if they will mail one. Anyone try this?

Just off the Splendor. What I noticed on the wine list was that there are fewer wines offered by the glass. I tried to order 2 higher end wines by the glass in the steakhouse only to be told that they were out of those. It seems like Layer Cake has become their go to by the glass wine. Not impressed with their by the glass selection at all.

As an orthopedic OR nurse, please, please, please, keep your wife out of any of the hot tubs. We have had patients as far as a year post op, come in with infections due to using hot tubs. Of course, it might not have been due to the hot tub use, but is it worth the risk? Even though they are "cleaned" and have chemicals added, it just isn't worth what would happen should she get an infection (additional surgery, wound vac, PICC lines, etc.) Now a relaxing massage...that's the ticket.

I would like to have a dessert without milk, cream or ice cream. We are tired of ordering the apple tart without the ice cream. The one time that we asked the chef for a dessert without milk products, we got chocolate melting cake. OK....

Another room question for you. We are currently booked on Divina in 12239. We know that it is a more "shaded" balcony which is what we were looking for, but how much does 12241 & 12243 affect the view? I assume that this is one of the smaller balcony cabins.

We may also have to change to Sept. There currently is no cruises shown from Sept. 17 to Oct. 3. Any idea if this is dry dock or charter? Thanks for your help.

After all of the cruising that we have done, I no longer over pack. I would make a suggestion to those that take multiple pairs of shoes...try them on before you leave home. On our last cruise, I just grabbed the first pair of black sandals that I saw in the closet. First elegant night went to put them on and they disintegrated. Didn't realize that these were very old sandals. Lucky me got to wear my Teva's (with slacks) every evening.:D

Glad that you were able to book so quickly. I got the same call from PVP last night for the Pack & Play offer. Amazing that when I called her back a few minutes ago, she no longer could find that offer. Says that it must have been her mistake. Well.....she's FIRED! Guess I'll be looking for another PVP. :mad:

Anything and everything at the Alchemy is good. If they offer the cocktail class, take it. It's like $15 but that's for 4 to 5 drinks. They have limited seats and it is great fun!

We loved the cove balcony on the Dream. It's so close to the water and since it is under the life boats, I never got sunburned/windburned like I have on regular balconies. The spa pass was easy to use since it was just a quick ride up the elevator. Given a choice, I would go with the cove every time!

I have been looking at the Legend for May. It seems that on all of the dates cabins 6297 to 6315 are open. Does anyone know if there is a problem with these cabins?

I thought that maybe it was because of the new slide but that is several floors up. These are on the Empress deck, so there are cabins above and below.

Any suggestions before I book one?

Thanks!!

Wow Tom2 your video is beautiful. I think that this is the type of trip that she is looking for. She and her mother are doing the 70th anniversary d-day and Normandy tour in June and looking at doing Alaska in 2015. I will pass along your video with your permission, as well as your travelogue. It's too late tonight, but I will read your entire travelogue tomorrow. Thanks for the information!

A friend has asked about going to Alaska on a smaller cruise line. We've done Carnival and HAL so I have no idea if there is one. She would like something along the lines of National Geographic that has educational speaker, etc. She wants to be able to do tours through the ship and have tour talks before each tour. She would also like something with say less than 300 passengers. This is on her trip list for 2015.

Thanks for your help!!

We were on the Dream in a cove balcony in January. We got the spa pass and went daily. My DH went twice a day. The pool did wonders for my RA and the spa shower is so much better than the room shower, which drained slowly. I only used the room shower once as it overflowed the shower pan and the entire floor was wet. It took all of the towels including the towel pig to sop up that wet mess. Would book another cove and spa pass in a heart beat!

Since she apparently has a proximal humerus fracture, she will need your help with many things. Showering and washing her hair come to mind first. Because of the immobilizer these will be difficult since she will not be able to remove it or lift her arm. You might want to consider taking baby wipes to help her freshen up. Even though they cannot be flushed they probably would be helpful. Whenever you are out and about always walk on her injured side and a little in front as you will be better able to run interference for her and keep her protected. You should also call the special needs dept. since she should not be packed in if the muster drill is by the lifeboats. If there is a special needs area for muster, that's where she should be. She will not only need help packing, but may needs tops that button up rather than being pulled over her head. Having this week, she should be able to tell in the next few days which will work better. On the bright side, she does have a week to figure out how to manage. Then she has another week to be pampered by you and the cruise staff. We're on the same cruise and hope to see you there!

Is it one tote per cabin or one per platinum guest?

Have you asked on your roll call if anyone with a cabana would let your mom enjoy their porch? I know that if I had one rented and someone in her situation needed a place to sit and watch the world go by, I would certainly say "by all means"!