cruiselvr04

Thanks starry eyes - I will look there.

Yes I think he will be okay for travel...if depends more on WHEN the surgery can be done which we may not know until after final payment. That is what makes it hard. If they can not get it done before say mid August to late August he may not be ready.

We could fly and cruise out of another port if airfare is reasonable. The week is set due to my work.

We could push it back until the first of the year but cruising out of Galveston in the winter in chilly at least the first and last day . And then we have another cruise planned for April.

I think we will take our chances with a.last minute cruise in September and if he is not able to go we just will skip this one.

Just wanted some feedback about last minute cruises and others experience with them as we always plan months if not years ahead. I suppose it is just a gamble on prices and what is left for cabins.

I will check with the insurance I usually use but I remember it has a clause about pre existing conditions not covered unless you buy it within 24 hours of first deposit. I suppose I can do that after I cancel this one. In other words book last minute and buy insurance the same day and it will most likely be covered by the policy I usually use. I would not do that to screw the insurance agency but just in case he has an unforeseen complication after he is cleared by his doctor.

Looking for experience on booking a cruise last minute. We are getting close to final payment for a September cruise. The DH is now having severe neck pain and tingling down his arms which means a neurosurgery consult and possible or probable surgery. We have been down this road once before. We are still waiting to be seen and then will need to schedule surgery. Of course his health is most important but we also know if surgery works he could probably cruise in as much as a month later. Just rest and relax and no excursions. ( he travels for work and was back on a plane two weeks after the last one.)

What complicates this a little is I can not take vacation October thru December so just moving the date back is not an option.

Since it is now preexisting insurance will not cover if I cancel after final payment. ( I always get insurance but not until final. Live and learn.)

Our best option I think at this point is cancel, save our vacation dates and hope we can book in the last two or three weeks for the same cruise. Of course we will have to take what is left for cabins. ( we had a great D 1 ). Otherwise we may lose money if we totally can not go. Do I make sense? Any experience booking last minute would be helpful.

Am doing some research on this myself. Water caye is larger but I have read that they do not allow you to snorkel from the beach which would irritate the DH. Goffs and rendezvous are very small little spits of sand. They are pretty but for instance when we went to Goffs we had no chairs to sit on and very limited shade.

I am going to choose one of those you mentioned just because tendering off the ship in May took two hours from getting in line to the dock in Belize. I want an excursion this time that leaves from the ship to save on that process. Shopping is not great there so I can skip that and never touch the mainland this time.

I will watch and see if anyone else comments about water caye and then decide.

BOGO $4.50 plus grat last month. Took them to the pool and boy were they good.

Linda O hope you have not just jinked yourself.:)

We have had small issues but most of the time I do everything calling directly and it has worked out.

Once my TA paid in full the wrong cruise and it was awful getting over 2k back. It took three weeks, multiple phone calls and they kept dribbling the money back in small crazy amounts like $123.45. No longer using that TA.

As adviced here I print out my C and A points after each cruise just in case the IT department decides to take some away.

We have had that cabin and that balcony is awesome! Makes you want to move in and never leave.

The line to drive up and drop your bags is very long and moves at a snails pace. If you can park and drag all your bags with you no problem. We waited in the car line for 45 minutes. However after we dropped off our bags and parked we walked right on board. Very quick. Staggering the times people arrive at port really helps but no one will stop you if you ignore the call/ email. We will do it differently when we go back in September. It is wonderful though having a port to drive to. No liquids to worry about, packing is easier, less chance of losing luggage, no missing flights, no pound limit on bags, etc. Love it!

We tip extra for service above and beyond. we asked our steward for a lounge chair and got it later that evening. We then gave him an extra $10 when we saw him in the hall. No extra at the end as he otherwise did just what was normal. Another cruise no above and beyond but the guy was really friendly, always greeting us by name and talking to us. Extra $10 at the end. This is about what we used to do when we paid our tips in cash. Oh and the second steward got one of wow cards too which I have heard do not mean much anymore but we give anyway. If we were really messy, had teens or kids to pick up after we would leave more but we are tidy. ( okay I am tidy, DH not but I pick up after him).:)

One of our favorite cruises out of 25 or so. Loved her. Intimate ship. Those inside cabins were really tiny for 11 nights! Can not speak for what she looks like now but we had a great cruise. Although we enjoyed Oasis bigger is not always better just different.

We did little French key in May. We did have a good time but it was a little pricey and we will try something else when we return in September. Island marketing seems to have a good selection of things to do and have heard good things about victor Bodden tours also.

Try it you might like it. We have tried it three times and we keep saying never again. We have done one seven day and 2 short cruises. If you just have to cruise and only can do a short cruise they are better then staying home, maybe. We just are not going to try it again. Obviously a lot of people like it just not us. We like real entertainment, do not gamble and do not like burgers and fries while cruising. We may try Princess again or HAL someday.

We got off the navigator June 1 st. No HH vouchers loaded yet. The lounge was sometimes full and then they extended into the Cosmo lounge a bit.

Sabor was good but do not have the Sangria. It was truly awful with some kind of spicy taste to it. No one at our table finished it.

Izumi was excellent also.

Royal did call everyone before the cruise and asked you to board at times according to your deck or crown and anchor level. Some did this and I think it really helped the congestion at the port. It took along while for us to drop off our bags at the port. After that we parked and walked right on. The line of cars to drop off bags barely moved

We were on this cruise too. We noticed it was a bit crowded in the windjammer, often hard to find a table but we always did. Quest was very full with standing room only. Tendering took a lot of time. Pool and solarium about the same as usual which means it's hard to find chairs but we always did just not together. My time dining was a wait at peak times. Johnny rockets had a line. Overall it did not seem worse to us with the added cabins but the ship was still not as full as it will be in the summer with all the third and fourth passenger ( kids).

We had a great cruise and will do it again in September. We now know her well and that will help make the next one even better. She's a great ship with nice facelift!

Was at little French key 2 weeks ago.

First off I did not know it was a 30 minute drive from where RCL docks. Then it is a short boat trip over to the island. When we first got there it was corded with almost every chair taken. Soon after noon the Carnival excursion left and it was much nicer. Lunch was excellent. You get 2 drinks. The first we had was really weak so we then stuck with beer. The DH went on a snorkel boat which he said was good but he had to sit on the boat forever before they left. No one said a time or come back later he just waited.

The water was great and the little zoo too. It was a beautiful place but overall I think it was too expensive. Maybe part of that is the distance from the port. If you want more to drink you will have to pay more also. Maybe if it was all inclusive....

We had a great time here and it was inexpensive as excursions go. I will not discuss the captivity of the dolphins but will say they appeared well cared for. The trainers really seemed to have a good time too ( enjoyed their jobs and the animals)and the dolphins were given at least an hour long break between groups and not more then 3 times in a day.

It was wonderful to be in the water with these beautiful animals. Something I will never forget. They offer picture packages but I did not feel it was hard sell at all. We bought only one of each of us. Our day included lunch and unlimited bar drinks. You can also use paddle boats, snorkel and kayak. We stayed about 3 hours and then walked a few blocks to downtown and shopped. Taxi was $8 each way. We also got a locker for $4. This could be a full day activity.

We loved it so much I would do it again and want to take our kids and grand kids too.

If you can carry everything off yourself go for express. Otherwise we had a higher number due to status I think and it was quick off. Just grab a porter if you do not do express and it will be faster. Worth the tip unless you like standing in line.

No pics but they are very nice. On a back to back on turnaround day we peaked in all the different categories on the ship. Deck 12 is lovely. Furniture reminds me a bit of IkEa in color and design with soft close drawers. Bigger tv. Nice standard size balcony. Deck 13 above is just chairs so should be quiet. Safe in the closet. Closet one side has room for hang ups and the other is shelves. Panoramic view window rooms are great too. I would stay in them for the right price. Much better then deck 2 or 3. We have a balcony on deck 12 booked for September.

Only negative I can see is you can only reach them from the forward elevator unless you want to walk outside which would be windy and or hot. For example to get to the 14 floor you will need to go down and then up to stay inside.

Getting off the ship was a breeze this time. Very fast when using a porter. No one asked if we had alcohol so we did not pay anything. I saw a table but no one was there. We did declare it. From the time we left our room to off the ship was maybe 20 minutes.

We had more trouble getting on or I should say dropping off our luggage going. Had to wait in a long line of cars for at least 45 minutes to drop off bags with no one directing traffic and one or two cars going thru lights at a time. This was around 10:30, 11:00. After that we did just walk on. They need to figure some thing else out for that traffic line or at least have a cop directing traffic.

We have had an aft on brillance deck 10 that was awesome, no obstruction of views.

We are going there this month and I will report back in early June.

Since you are pregnant I would avoid going in to the interior of Belize. Protect yourself with insect repellant if you do. (But of course deet is bad for you too). Not to scare you but that is where the docs believe my DH got Dugue fever. We will go to the out islands now but never again to the interior. He was young, healthy and Very Sick.

Stay on the ship or go to one of the little island beaches for the day.

We have some outstanding stewards in the past but the last few years it has been slipping generally. We "clean" our room on arrival and some are clean and some are downright filthy as evidenced by wipes we use. I know they are busy and have very little time on turnaround day to deep clean.

Last cruise our room was never vacuumed as we had sand early in the week on the floor that was still there at the end. I wanted to go get the vacuum myself but am always worried I will make someone mad and I have heard what stewards can do when they get in trouble or you make them angry.

If they are nice and friendly I honestly cut them some slack. If they are not and do not do a good job I comment on the comment card at the end but do not complain during the cruise. I require very little. Clean sheets and towels and any leftover dishes picked up, vacuum if needed. We keep our cabin very tidy ourselves.

We tip extra at the end for above and beyond but honestly have not seen that lately. We see more of this with the wait staff and almost always give great comments of them and extra at the end.

How does anyone know what time to make reservations for dinner. On the regular ships entertainment is around the two dining times. With Quantum how can you possibly figure that out? Frustrated that we may miss something we really want to do or see due to dinner. I guess we can always go tot the windjammer if it doesn't work out. I am also not going to put money down for restaurants a year in advance. I think that is just crazy. Even with Oasis we did not do that until about 90 days out which is okay but would not want to do it before that.

A bit off topic I guess but just trying to figure out what to book.

We live in Dallas and our daughter in Houston. We have still decided to get a room in Texas city just to get out of Houston the day before the cruise. Traffic is awful even on Sundays. This way we can sleep in a bit. Easter weekend what normally takes about 4 hours turned into 6 going from Dallas to Houston on a Sunday.