1stcarnivalcruise

I was wondering this too...on Grandeaur March 12th and I can't book online pre cruise.

We are similar, don't arrive until 1:30. I emailed the British colonial hotel directly and they replied that the lifeguards leave and the bar restaurant closes at five but we were welcome to stay as long as we wanted. Hope this helps.

I would love to know this too[emoji5]

As always Cruise Critic is a wealth of information...so thank you for all the advise:)

xxoocruiser summed up my feelings perfectly...."...better manage your symptoms and energy that you can to enjoy your vacation without experiencing an exacerbations does not mean that you're giving into you MS." I have been dealing with this feeling of giving in a lot. I digress a little, I am a Kindergarten teacher and this year I went from working full time to two days per week, and that's all I can handle.

I will be bringing my cane, uses wheelchair assistance for embark/debark and the big thing listen to my body and only do what I can. I have planned options for our port days and will keep an open mind and see what my "body" needs for that day.

Again thanks for the uplifting thoughts, there is vacations (especially cruising) after MS.

PS - 4 women from my MS support group are going on an MSCruise (RCCL) at the end of February, they are very excited!

Hi fellow cruisers, so a little medical background, I was diagnosed with MS in June 2015 and slowly adjusting to my “new me”. I have mobility issues and use a cane.

Cruise background….we love to cruise (my husband and 2 teen daughters), we were booked to go on a NCL Jade Med cruise last July, canceled 4 weeks before, as you can imagine devastating. I booked a March Break cruise on Royal Grandeur out of Baltimore, March 12th, a few years back and we are going, very excited.

Wow having a disability has really made me rethink many things I used to take for granted. Hoping to get some advice, here are my thoughts…..

I have the “Royal Special Needs“form to fill out and will be asking for….

1) Sharp’s Container–daily injection needles

2) Egg carton mattress/bed blocks on – I have back issues

3) Embarkation/Debarkation – I am anxious about this, I cannot walk for long distances and inclines are not easy. What should I ask for? Wheelchair assistance OR is Baltimore port not too bad

4) Muster Drill – again I can’t stand for long periods and will need to sit, how do I request this?

5) Itinerary – again anxious about getting off the ship? What happens if we get back to a long line to get back on the ship?

I am planning some low key days…..any suggestions for any of the following places would be greatly appreciated

Port Canaveral – take a taxi and spend day at Jetty Park Beach. How far a walk to the taxi stand?

Nassau – booked a day pass at the British Colonial, been to Nassau, the walk through the little market to taxi stand I think is doable.

Cococay – enjoying the beach, I have been reading about here on Cruise Critic, is the walk to a chair with shade long?? If possible should we book a cabana?

Key West – renting a golf cart and enjoying the island

Is there anything I have missed?

I plan to do a review when we get back…..here is a link to my last cruise review if you are interested in getting to know us…..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1965819&highlight=legend+christmas+review

As always I am so appreciative to this board, I have enjoyed countless hours on here, it really has been an escape when reality is too hard to face!

Sunshinescootersinc......have good tripadvisor reviews and seem reasonable.

We are renting golf carts and the company is picking us up to take us were we rent them. Can they come to old mole pier to get us or do we need to take the cruise shuttle first?

Thanks everyone for sharing these beautiful photos, I have booked online for the British Colonial for our day in Nassau in March.

A quick question....we are in port 1:30 to 11:59pm, I know the lifeguard/pool bar are open until 5:00, are we able to stay there later, thinking until 7:00 (sunset is not till then because of the time change in March).

I know they can move you to another stateroom if you cancel the 3/4 guests, but I'm not sure they would change the price that the first two people are paying.

 

Since you are not paying anything for the 3/4 guests, I would not cancel them. Just have them not show up. You will get a refund of their taxes.

Thanks that makes a lot of sense!

The agent has to fill out a form and fax it to Royal. Just takes a few days, but the agent has to do it.

You need to sign permission for the change though first before ta can do anything

 

 

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Thanks this is exactly what happened....I needed to write a letter and so did my agent, we did this today and Royal said it would take a few days to process.

Sorry another question....(being my own travel agent is tricky)

When I was talking to the agent I said I would like to book for 4 people (3rd and 4th are free), if at a later date I want to drop 2 can I?

"Yes, BUT Royal may move us into a cabin for 2 (which I am fine with) BUT this may mean a change in the cost of cabin, it could go up" does this sound right?

I think we really need to make a decision now because with 4 people (3rd/4th free but 1st and 2nd pay full) COMPARED to...booking now with 2 (1st full, 2nd half price). If we go with 4 now and then later change to 2, there would be no savings (deal) at all.

I am so confused :confused:

Thanks everyone, it helped a lot.....so I was all excited to book my cabin for 4 and when on the phone to book and use my "open booking certificate" lo and behold I can't because it is my travel agents name. The ship automatically does this, I do not want to book with my agent (she is great but retires in December) so I wanted to book this one myself.

How much trouble is it for my agent to switch the open booking back to Royal so I can use it. Does it take long to do?

I'm a little frustrated!

So I will start off by apologizing, I have been spending a lot of time over in the NCL board due to our Jade trip to the Med next July but coming back over to Royal.....

You may remember me I did a long Christmas review of the Legend last year (comparison to Disney), on that cruise we bought an open booking certificate that we want to use.

So thinking of going on the Grandeur next March 2016, but not sure if we want to take our daughters so here are my questions....

1) Book a cabin that can hold 4, but just pay for 2 now, can we add them later????

2) Book for all 4 of us now (but a lot held up for the deposit on our visa), can we drop them from the reservation later?

3) So on the Legend we had an inside cabin (8071) right beside the "secret staircase" that led to spa, loved this location.....Grandeur does not look the same, is there a "secrete staircase"?

I have a 24 hr courtesy hold, the price for 4 seems really low, for the 3rd and 4th passenger they are both discounted $409, so they only pay $121 each, I said to my husband we can't afford not to take them, we leave them home and will pay way over that for groceries and entertainment for 2 teenagers for a week :eek: Is there some kind of special going on?

Great to be back!!!

Thanks!

I returned to the rome in limo page, and found a detailed description of the 8 pass van, looks very roomy from the one interior photo, looks like 4 rows of 2 bucket seats....:D

I would love to read the description and see photo too, the other thread is soooo long, do you remember what page it was on, please and thank you :)

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much perfect!!!

Check out "Athens Free Walking Tour" online. We took the train (there is now an express bus) from Pireaus to the meeting point, the Monistiraki metro stop, and walked 5km around the Acropolis. It took about three hours. The guide was excellent and the cost is a tip in the amount of your choice.

I was hoping you could answer some questions about this tour

1) How far in advance did you book/email them?

2) What time did the tour start?

3) On their website they say the tour does not go inside the Acropolis, did you have time to go in after, and to the museum....or not needed?

4) I know this is hard to answer but do you think teenagers would enjoy it?

Thanks a lot!!!

I think that's it ;)

Hope people don't mind me asking here....I am a huge NFL fan, many fond memories watching the Oakland Raiders (my late Father's favourite team) growing up. We live in Toronto and the CFL is just not the same. I have never gone to an NFL game and was just saying to my husband what a great Christmas present to me!!! I make my husband and 2 daughters watch football with me every Sunday (not too successfully though :rolleyes:).

SO I just looked and Miami is playing the Vikings on Sunday, Dec 21st, the day before we leave on the Pearl......some questions....

1) Where to buy good, hopefully reasonable tickets (the cruise is quite an expense), should I use their official site with Ticketmaster?

2) People are mentioning "packages" with tailgating, what/how to get these?

Any other helpful suggestions for an NFL newbie!!!

I really, really appreciate it!

I found this great website that explained everything to me, with great photos....http://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

Thanks for the info!!

I speak from NCL experience, but it is the port who run the shuttles. Last year I think it was $15 each into the town centre. From there you buy bus tickets, the bus then takes you to the train station.

 

It's a bit of a faff. If I were to do it again, I would either do a tour on your own type package or look at a private excursion. You might get a better response on the ports thread. There are taxis waiting at the port both inside and outside, but these will be after longer excursions and not wanting a one way fare to the train station. Allow an hour to get to the station.

 

There is an excellent video on utube that shows you how to do it and also an excellent Carnival Legend review with photos.

Thanks everyone for your replies....another quick question are the shuttles really $15 per person, very expensive for my family of 4 that would be $60 seems like a lot, I think I remember seeing $5 per person.

It has been rumored that NCL is offering a shuttle bus to the train station. Can anyone confirm if NCL is offing a shuttle bus this year for its customers to the train station?

I know this is an old "thread" can anyone confirm if this is true? What is the cost for the shuttle?

We will be in St. Lucia in December. We want to relax at a nice resort/ beach during the day.

Does anyone have a recomendation of resorts that offer day passes that allow teens? Seems like a lot of adult only places.

I can't say for sure if lemonade is available to order in the main dining rooms, but they won't consider it a problem if she brings in her own glass from the buffet. We usually have a drink in hand when we go down for dinner, and that's never a problem.

Great idea we will BYOL (bring your own lemonade) into the restaurants :cool:

See Post #29 in this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2014057&page=2

There is a photo in this thread, post #29

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2014057

Thank you so much for the photo link....I stumbled across this thread and I am so glad I did I presumed our cabin on Pearl and Jade would have 2 pull down beds and they do not (I phoned to confirm).

I now can mentally adjust and not be shocked. We are a family of 4, husband 6'4 and my daughters and I are all 5'8 ish but I think that the reverse U will be just fine. We choose to all stay in one room so that we can afford more vacations.

Just one more question for anyone will this reverse U work in Pearl/Jade inside cabins?

In all 11 cruises, we've only had insides. We've sailed X, Carnival, Princess, HAL, NCL, and RCCL. All of the insides are small - we've found very little difference in the cabin sizes, though I will say that the largest/absolute best layout was on HAL. We have an almost 13yo, but he is on the small side. We do fine but would never recommend 4 adults in an inside on any line except maybe Disney. However, there is actually a way to configure the beds in the NCL inside that does offer more room. Have the steward remove the night stands and configure the beds as such: put the trundle in the up position and place against the wall you face as you enter the cabin. Place the other 2 beds each along each side wall, so you've got a reversed U shape. The pullman can all come down. The stewards will do this, but you have to be very explicit in the instructions (and a picture is also good). But again, I wouldn't recommend this for 4 adults. 3 adults & a kid, maybe.

 

In travelling, we've learned that research makes the difference in so many ways.

Yes a picture would help me....does anyone have a photo of setting up the beds in this reversed U shape????