CanWeGoYet?

Actually, at least from what I've read - rain is more likely in late shoulder season than early.  So while May may have some rain,  it may not be as bad as late August / September.  Just cold.  I went to Emerald Lake both in early May and mid June - it was frozen pretty much solid in May.  You could only see a thin thin line of green at the edge of the lake.  Many feet of snow at the sides of the highway.  

And it was so great watching the excitment of the crew!  At Glacier Bay the crew were running out in their work clothes to the outside decks to see the glacier - this was the first cruise of the season and many from parts of the world where you don't get snow.  

But maybe I should sign up for that unlimited fitness class pass.  One dessert a day has always been my rule on a cruise.  I don't know if I have the self discipline to have the lunch cake & then pass up dessert at dinner.  

1 hour ago, tmg698 said:

Yes on Paradise in December they had one. It was good.

Oh I'm hoping it isn't just seasonal!  My favorite, really hope to see it next time I sail.  

With the new cakes, has anyone seen Red Velvet?

I thought the food servings were humongous, but my brother was disappointed by the size of his steak on the surf & turf.  He asked the server about another portion and was told he could certainly have that, but he would be charged a whole new fee for the steakhouse.  I guess he thought that he could get both a full sized lobster and a full sized steak - yes he does like to eat.  

It was a bit of a surprise to him considering how it's no problem to get seconds in the MDR.  

Don't feel like you need to book an expensive excursion in order to enjoy the ports.  Research.  If a flight excursion is what your heart is set on - then it may be the best choice.  But I enjoyed the low key do it yourself activities far more than the helicopter ride I  took.  Read the boards for ideas and also check out tripadvisor.  

If you are there past very early spring, bring & wear your bug spray.   I went on a first of the season cruise in May, the yukon was frozen & the temps were cooler.  But the next Alaska cruise I took in June had temperatures in the 80s in all ports.  

Be prepared for a tight table situation in the buffet on particularly scenic cruise days.  The day we spent at Glacier Bay, people camped out at tables in  the buffet near the windows and kept their tables pretty much all day.  Not eating, just playing cards or enjoying  the view.    Had to bring our food to a table & chair on a lower deck in the hall to eat - I'm glad we had trays (I might have saved some from room service, can't remember).    We also could have just taken the  food back to the cabin or simply used room service.  

Are the 3 of you fairly neat, organized, or willing to try to be so on the cruise?  I think that is key.  If you can try to put things away & not leave everything out (I'm thinking of how my son can trash a cabin & how his room looks at home - this would be a bad thing cruising with 3 in an inside) it should be workable.

Over door clear shoe hanger, at least one really helps with things you want to keep handy but not leave out to be a clutter, or need to waste time looking for.    You can put it on the outside of the bathroom door, or over the closet door, and if others want to try to do hair or get to toiletries while someone else is in the bathroom they can still  get their things.

Try not to overpack, with 3 in a cabin there isn't a wealth of storage space unless its a very short cruise.  At least with how I pack, I always bring too much stuff.

Getting ready in the spa area sounds like a great idea.  I've heard others doing this and it really helps to not all use the same bathroom for getting ready.  

Pack air freshener for the bathroom.  Those fans don't always ventilate well, and you may really be glad to have something to spray to freshen the cabin especially with no way to get fresh air in the room / no balcony doors to open.  

45 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Buy Cheers. 

🤣

The excursions I've arranged through the cruise line come with instructions on where  to meet and what time, as memory serves the meeting place has been in the theater, and you are told where your particular excursion is seating so you are all in one group.  Then they lead you off the ship in groups, and from there wait to board the transportation.  

Agree, never in port and if I do have a line with a few things on it, it's strung fairly low. Like chair back height. With the sun & the breeze things dry quick, they aren't out long.

I was just looking at carnival alaska itineraries for a friend who wants help planning a cruise. Looks like they've added some different runs for 2018. 2 7 day glacier bay cruises in May, one 8 day Glacier Bay in August and September, and a 14 day from Long Beach on the Splendor.

My guess is, no view at all in 4131. I was in 4155, which looks identical to me for position of the lifeboat in relation to the cabin. No view of anything, unless you climbed up and half way leaned out the window to look around the lifeboat. My brother could do it, but not me as I was recovering from a recent back surgery.

I still thought it was a great thing though, having access to fresh air and light.

My son was prescribed a Z pack for a flare up of an asthma attack on board. He had developed a URI and it set off his asthma. The care was comparable to anything that would have been done on a land based ER.

It was reasonable, only around $200 (back in 2010) out of pocket for an exam, x rays, antibiotics, steroids, and a nebulizer treatment. They could have done more if he needed, but if he was too sick I have no doubt he would have been transferred off the ship. I made sure to get him to the infirmary before the asthma attack looked bad.

Our travel insurance covered the trip, his health insurance plan didn't as it was an HMO and of course the doctor was out of network. If he had got care at an actual ER, it would have been covered. Since it was not that setting, the rule for the physician being in network applied, which is ridiculous as it was on a ship at sea & out of the country. Anyway, I did have to get a denial from the health plan & then the travel insurance covered, as we had secondary insurance.

Since then, I've gone the extra step of having primary coverage to not need to deal with getting denials & jump through the extra hoops.

It turned out fine. There were clouds but no rain, and definitely no lightning! The guide said they predict rain every day in the forecast, which may be an exaggeration but it helps explain why the tour company did not seem too impressed by the forecast.

Ship : Conquest

Deck: 7

Cabin # 7439

Balcony Cabin

Category :8B

Starboard

Quiet Stateroom? – Quiet cabin, except of course for the wild spring break passengers yelling & carrying on in the hallways.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Unobstructed, extra long balcony.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Oversized (extra long, not wider than normal)

Was wind a problem? - Only as expected

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Only one outlet, no outlet in bathroom for nightlight.

Comments : Nice cabin, one of the L shaped cabins with the extra long, "bowling alley" balconies. Have sailed in this category of cabin before, on the Liberty. We like them. The room had only a table, chair & stool or ottoman to sit on, instead of a sofa. It didn't bother us, but may not be for everyone. There is a lot of light in the room from a window plus the door with glass in it to the balcony. We had a lounger, 2 chairs and a small table. There was plenty of room for the furniture.

The bed configuration was 2 twins, it did cut in the pathway to the bathroom a bit. We just scooted the mattress over a tad that was closest to the bathroom door, and it made for a bit more room in opening the bathroom door. We don't watch a lot of tv on a cruise, but the tv does swivel so if you want to watch the tv from your bed it is no problem. A great room with a larger balcony at a bargain price of 8B, works for us.

No noise to speak of, between 2 passenger decks. No bad odors at all, we were happy with the cabin.

I've been on 2 celebrity cruises, repositioning ones - so long cruises, on older ships (Century, Millie).

I thought the food in the MDR on the Millennium was similar to Carnival. On the Century - I had seen the menus & was wowed, but the presentation of the food did not seem on par with the descriptions. It was just ok, and some of it was horrible. The coffee was the worst of any cruise ship I've ever been on, and it was uniformly bad between the coffee bistro & free coffee.

Buffet food better, more variety on Celebrity. Room service menu with many more choices & hot breakfast (although in all likelihood it is delivered warm at best).

Production shows a definite step up on Celebrity since Carnival has made the changes to theirs - the playlist productions.

Service quite similar between the 2 lines. Plenty of activities on Celebrity, maybe more so than on Carnival for folks like me that don't go for bingo or gambling. My latest cruise on Carnival I had trouble finding more than 2 activities a day that appealed to me, and often if there were 2 - they happened at the same time.

Gym on Millennium incredibly small, inadequate for the number of passengers - especially with a mainly captive crowd on a cruise with so many sea days. Any time a free class was offered, it was full to bursting & people turned away. One class we lost half the time slot because the instructor insisted on taking roll & checking with each person against the list (before the class started) to see who had signed in. Many more were in the class than on the list - don't know if it was a language barrier issue or what - but the instructor was furious & it was awkward.

The beverage packages are so worthwhile, I got the non-alcohol one that includes bottled water, fresh squeezed juices, smoothies & premium coffee / espresso from the shops. The promotions offering gratuities, OBC or drink packages are offered on so many Celebrity cruises, that bring the price difference between the 2 lines to pretty negligible. I know the transatlantic I took on Celebrity was actually less expensive than what I've seen offered on Carnival, even comparing a standard balcony to a concierge class balcony.

Celebrity does not have any laundry rooms for passengers to do their own laundry, so if you want clean clothes you'll be paying for them to do your laundry. But I have used their dry cleaning as well, a great service and it was far less expensive than prices I pay locally.

Passengers were as nice on Celebrity as on Carnival. I didn't notice any snobbishness at all, people were by & large friendly.

I'm getting ready to book a cruise and am pretty disappointed with the changes I've read about (been a long time since I could afford a cruise). I'm wondering if there is a different line that still offers some/all of these amenities?

I think cutbacks have happened across the cruise lines, all of them. I don't know about the luxury cruise lines as I have never sailed on one - but from the time I've spent on the celebrity & HAL boards - the regulars lament the cutbacks on those cruise line too. I don't think any of the mainstream cruise lines have a midnight buffet anymore. The production shows may be better on other mainstream cruise lines. More variety on the celebrity buffets, and a nice no added charge sushi station when I cruised with them. But the sandwich grill didn't have sauerkraut to make a reuben - I was only able to get it because Captain was lunching nearby & overhead my request - told them to go find me some sauerkraut!

Weather forecast (for ocho rios) I pulled up has a lot of rain & even thunderstorms forecast in the next week. Anyone have any experience with how the tour operators handle this sort of thing? It can't possibly be safe to be out on the water if lightning is expected.

We have put a deposit down on a river tubing excursion (not through the cruise line) and emailed the person who handles the email communication for the excursion. Seemed to be downplaying even the possibility of rain, let alone thundershowers, yet that is what is in the forecast. I'm going to hope the forecast changes in the next week - if not we may just stay on board the ship.

Where do i find a wind tunnel door?

I heard about it on the Liberty, don't know if all the ships have one? Here is a thread with a location, another poster said there is one on every deck that has cabins all the way forward.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj7x7ubhcbSAhXrjlQKHQ96AHkQFggaMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fboards.cruisecritic.com%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D1490073&usg=AFQjCNFRWTL1AVNZIYcKYz9aXixSGy9E7A

It is amazing at how affordable cruises are now, compared to years back. I remember when I first started cruising, looking for "2 for 1 deals" and pretty much the best I could hope for was about $100 a night, per person. This was for an inside cabin. Granted, I didn't know about checking for price drops, so maybe I could have done better. But if I look around & book early, I can now get a balcony for about that price. There have been cutbacks but it's such a great, affordable vacation still.

I wish there was a PM feature here. I'd share my secret favorite seats, but can't afford to have it out there on the whole board.

Get to the theater early, that is key. As soon after dinner as you can, that way you have more chance of getting a seat with a good sight line. If you can score a seat that doesn't have a seat directly in front - that is best. That way some yahoo with a big head won't plunk down in front of you 30 seconds before the show starts. ;)

I booked an Alaska cruise sort of last minute, maybe a month before sailing. Had just booked an inside cabin, but a 4k opened up. Granted, it was not one of these prime ones with any sort of view. But hey, an inside cabin with an opening "window" some light and fresh air. What could be better, especially for the price. I had a view of the lifeboat and I was still thrilled.

Oh, one more thing: If you like the Chocolate Melting Cake but wish it wasn't quite so runny, or if you like it to be pretty much a pot of chocolate with a wisp of a crust, you can actually order it the way you want it. Tell your wait staff you how you like it. The kitchen has a system of varying amounts of doneness, and sets out the cakes that way, and the wait staff knows which ones are which.

I tried ordering it this way on my first Alaska cruise, and the waiter (older, who said he had been wait staff with carnival 25 years) got kind of twitty & said he had never heard of it, request did not go over well. But I did get a medium done WCMC, so maybe he just didn't know?

Lots more pay to dine venues

Fewer free exercise classes

Some items on the MDR menu and room service menu surcharged

Juice dispensers only filled for breakfast, have not seen it myself but have read reports of there only being lemonade at breakfast on some ships - no orange juice at the lido buffet

Late dinner seating often has the evening show before dinner, instead of after

Play list productions - no live music

I've seen some shows with mixed media / animation thrown in to the show, which in my opinion adds nothing of value

Subjective - but seems much fewer activities I really want to get to. If there are 2 things offered that day that really appeal to me, they are scheduled at the same time so you have to choose. Like the afternoon tea offered at the same time as a dance class.

Good luck, I know it really is miserable being sea sick. And of course you worry, you've had trouble in the past. I get sick after surgery or any type of anesthesia. Maybe part of it is expecting it to happen, but then it would be kind of crazy not to learn from past experience...

If you check for the motion sickness / electronic bands - I know some have non -replaceable batteries, and others do have batteries that can be replaced - so be careful you don't get a really expensive disposable!