Ellis1138

If you haven't already, make sure to contact the NCL Access Desk so that your father will not have to stand or wait in long lines when you do get there.

My honest opinion. For my first cruise in 2003, I chose NCL because of the Freestyle Dining and specialty restaurants. I believe it was the only one that did that. I like being casual and not having to worry about needing a dress for me and a tux or even a good suit for my husband. We've been on the Sun and the Jade and liked both ships. We were not as impressed with the RCL Explorer. NCL handled my allergies and other concerns the best, so I do like that. Neither my husband and I are into the entertainment or parties or games, so I can't tell whether those were good or not. My next 2 cruises will be on the Escape and the Pride of America. Even though PoA is supposed to be awful, I'm approaching it as just a floating Best Western. So whether or not you like NCL will have more to do with your needs and your expectations.

I do it based on what I need or how much pain I'm in but you forgot the first step of the order: Rinse off in a shower, first. 😛 My order, after that is Thalassotherapy, and possibly hot tub. Dry off and rest on a heated lounger. Go to steam room, then another rinse off shower and then sauna. I don't generally do the hot/cold thing because it usually gives me respiratory issues, which I am susceptible to. Finally, I go take an actual shower and wash my hair in the locker room area, because the shower in my cabin is usually really tiny.

The balcony door leading to the hall was flat, if my memory serves. I put a magnetic white board on it.

I just wanted to add that, in addition to a non-surge extension cord and multi plug, I bring gaffing tape, so that the extension cord won't trip us. I used to be a gaffer and work in TV/Video, so it's my tape of choice. Holds well, but comes back up cleanly.

Bring a plain, non-surge protection extension cord or request one of the cruise ship's ones via the NCL Access form. Make sure you protect the CPAP machine from any sea spray or wetness.

There are also Turmeric Gummies, but they taste pretty bad and contain sugar.

Tobacco and Marijuana are also natural. Anyway, as others have stated, you'll only be able to vape in the smoking sections on your ship. https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/smoking On Jewel and Star Class ships and Norwegian Spirit: The designated smoking areas for cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipe smoking and vapor smoking devices are permitted on deck 13 forward port side. You can also vape in the casino, where the smoking is allowed. Since you use it for medical purposes, that should be easy enough for you to go to the smoking section for the vape.

I was thinking of that, too, but I have a softside suitcase. I'm going to request a second stool or a small side table and see what NCL says. I could also just decide to do any desk type stuff in the lounge at a table and use the stool for the CPAP machine.

On my first cruise without my husband, I decided to try a Studio cabin on my upcoming Escape NE/Canada trip in September. I plan to make a full report, including measurements, allergenic issues, noise, the lounge and other specialty considerations. I assume I won't be having any space issues, since I'm only 5'1" and 170 lbs. Obese, but not to the point of not fitting into things. I think my one problem might be how to have my stool at the little desk, but also have a table for my CPAP next to the bed. I don't want to have to move my machine each morning, but not the end of the world if I do have to.

Okay, so now we just need reports from folks going on current or upcoming cruises this month to report on the fan type and size they packed and whether NCL confiscated it. Eventually, we'll get enough data to figure out the perfect fan for cruise ships.

Now we just need to know what NCL considers a small fan.

Ok thanks! Hopefully, I won't be bothered by lots of slamming doors.

I'm glad you had such a good time. (I'm the allergy person who wanted to know about whether the mattresses were bare.) Another odd question: Did they have actual dairy/cream for the coffee in the Studio Lounge?

I prefer filling this out to having to specify my allergies every single time I eat. https://ncl.secure.force.com/AccessDeskForm/ When I was on the Jade, I was assigned a special crew member who oversaw all the special dietary needs. I was able to tell them ahead of time what I wanted and they made dishes special for me, which I liked. I love lamb, but never usually get to eat it at a restaurant, due to the use of rosemary, sage and thyme. I was able to have it on the Jade. That was pre-Covid days. I'll be going on my first post-Covid cruise in September, so we'll see how the Escape handles it.

Well, in my case, I would love to know ahead of time how to contact the Hotel Directors on the Escape and Pride of America, because I have special allergy needs for my cabin. Or to know who to look for on embarkation day for those reasons. Generally, this info gets passed on by the Access email, so I eventually find out.

Not sure this will help anyone, but I decide on the travel insurance based on the trip. For instance, we have 2 driving to nearby states vacations I'm not bothering to insure, since our health insurance and car insurance will cover everything and the hotels are refundable. For the New England/Canada cruise out of NYC, I got a tiny bit of Basics Travel medical insurance to cover me for the 2 days in Canada and At Sea day. The entire trip will only cost $1500, so not worth spending much to insure it. For the big expensive going to Hawaii and doing Pride of America, I got Preferred coverage, with like $500,000 evac stuff, natural disaster coverage and even a quarantine rider, just in case. After some research, I went with AIG Travel Guard, whom I have used in the past.

In some of the NCL Escape dailies, I've seen Thermal Spa day passes on sale for $54 during port days. Not sure if that price is current.

This may sound old fashioned, but I bring a hot water bottle. It's made of some kind of rubber or silicone and has the screw-on plastic stopper. Alternatively, bring many Ziploc bags and put hot water from either your cabin's coffee maker or the buffet hot water (you will need a thermal mug to carry it) in the outer Ziploc and then put your compress in a smaller Ziploc inside the bigger hot water bath Ziploc. My cold therapy trick is also Ziploc-based. Ice in a ziploc, wrapped in a towel. I haven't used any, but I think there are chemical packs for both hot and cold, where you just sort of crush the pack and it will get hot or cold.

Thanks. It's very rare that I ever stay anywhere that has one. PURE hotels used to, but they stopped because it took housekeeping too long. Yeah, you wouldn't be able to tell by visual if the mattress had a pillowtop feature, but you would feel that through the encasement.

These forums seem to no longer allow person to person messaging, but I would love any information about the mattress and bedding, so I know how many allergy covers to bring and what size. That does look like a full size bed, but sometimes cruise cabins just have 2 small beds pushed together.

I do always contact the access desk, since in addition to dust mites, I have allergies to fragrance, and food allergies and also have a cpap machine. And Hallux, if you could find out (my cabin will be 11519) what the white space is and also the mattress cover situation, that would rock!

I'm trying to figure out what the white space is in this picture. I circled it in red. Is that a door to the Studio cabins or is it just where the hallway turns? Also, if anyone knows the answer to this, I would be very appreciative: Do they have 6-sided zippered encasements on the mattresses or just the fitted 5-sided ones? Or worse, nothing at all on the mattresses beneath the bed sheets. I have allergies, so I need to know if I have to bring my own stuff.

I know it's not allowed when there are foreign ports, but because PoA is all in the US and is a US ship, it's possible. However, call NCL to make sure it would be allowed.

I had to update NCL to my middle name, as well, to match my passport. And, to be safe, I checked my United airlines account and had to add it there, too. Better to do it all now than to be stopped at TSA.