stuartgrn

8 hours ago, Greener123 said:

Breakaway 23rd Sept

We're on this cruise and got our bid excepted email yesterday. Gone from Inside to a Balcony Deck 12 Mid Ship so super happy with the cabin location. Paid just over minimum so happy with price.

Simple question... which restaurant will serve me the best steak on the Breakaway?

Hi! First time NCL cruiser and we have the dining package as a perk. We were looking at booking the specialty restaurants around our plans so had a look at the online booking system. Most nights the only availability was very late or no times at all. Are there more time slots that open up closer to sailing (we are on 11th Jan 2020 sailing) or we will have to wit until onboard to get the times we want or have we missed out on the most popular times? Is it essential to book restaurants before the cruise or will there be better availability once on board. Thanks for any pointers.

11 hours ago, WVHillbilly said:

Haven't done any atv tours, but I do own several atvs and have ridden others.  Most of the automatics require you to depress the foot brake to shift it into gear.  Mine will only start in park or neutral; I would contact the tour operators directly to see what accomadations they can make.

Thank you for this info.

My wife has expressed an interest in doing an ATV tour on our upcoming stop at Cozumel. The issue she has is that she is disabled and cannot use her legs for driving as she has no feeling below the knees so cannot control pedals or gear switches (she drives a standard automatic car using hand controls). Due to her disability she would only be able to ride an ATV that can be controlled with only hands. We have seen ATV tours on other stops that use fully automatic ATV’s but all the Cozumel tours she has seen state “semi-automatic” machines which look like they need some kind of foot input to drive them.

Does anyone have any personal experience or pointers of where we might be able to get a tour using an ATV that is fully controlled by hands and doesn’t need any foot control. We have done many driving based tours previously where I have driven and the wife has been a passenger as she wouldn’t be able to drive a buggy, car or anything that requires foot control so hence why she looked at a sit on ATV.

We've seen this on other cruise lines and we have always been curious. Not in any way a criticism or anything - do what you want, it's your vacation but can I ask why you decorate the outside of the cabin door? I can see why passengers might want to decorating the inside their cabin for a special occasion or for whatever reason but I've never understood why you would need to decorate the outside of the door?? We've seen many levels of decoration from a single banner right through to numerous signs covering the whole door? Just wondering why people decorate the outside of their cabin door. Again, no hate... just a genuine question.

We are new to NCL and have a question concerning guarantee cabin assignments. Where exactly will we see our bcabin number once it has been assigned? We are well aware the the cabin can be assigned at any time but where on the online account pages will the cabin number show up - is there somewhere specific it will show or will the cabin category change on the summary page? Thanks.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think we are looking at visiting the Space Centre as we're not that interested in theme parks and roller coasters so it looks like we will pick up a car at the airport and go down to the beach area. Any recommendations for hotels in that area would be great. I am a hilton honours member so get discounted rates at hilton branded hotels.

We have always cruised from either Miami or Fort Lauderdale but am looking at a cruise from Port Canaveral. We are from the UK and would be flying into Orlando before the cruise so would have 2 full days before the cruise. Any advice on hotels, things to do would be appreciated -  we are a couple in our early 40’s with no children with us on this trip. I normally hire a car to give us some freedom but really have no experience of cruising out of Port Canaveral. Any advice or recommendations would be great. Thanks.

Hi. Looking at booking our first cruise with NCL and had a question about guaranteed stateroom. With Royal and Celebrity we have booked guaranteed cabins and when they have been allocated we have been able to phone customer service and move the cabin within the same cabin level if available. Is this the case with NCL or are you stuck with whatever cabin you are assigned? Thanks.

We had a similar experience on a MSC ship last year. When the engines were running the noise in the cabin from vibrations were unbearable. Customer service were useless so I investigated the problem myself. I discovered that there we many wall and ceiling panels that were not fixed properly so when the engines ran (we were in an aft facing cabin) all these ill fitting panels vibrated. I managed to do a temporary fix by stuffing towels between the ceiling and wall panels and anywhere else when the noise was coming from. It wasn't a perfect fix but the noise was 90% better and we were able to sleep. Maybe worth a try.

Any perks are available to view online if you wish - we are on Equinox in 2 weeks left and got free premium drinks, grats, obc and internet included in the price. Log onto your My Celebrity account then get to the cruise planner (where you can book excursions, dining etc. At the top of the page there is a "Order History" button. When I click this all my excursions come up along with my Select Dining reservations. Below these are all the free perks I got with the booking. Don't imagine it is just on mine so have a look.

Thanks for all the advice. I always take confirmations for items purchased before a cruise and will keep an eye out for the check in docs nearer the sate of the cruise.

Hi. We are new to MSC. I have a question about what you need to take with you when you check in. We have sailed with Celebrity and Royal and when you complete the online check in you print out a "Set Sail Pass" which you present at check in with your passport. I have just completed my online check in for our September cruise and have nothing that needed printing out. Is it the case you don't get anything to print out after online check in? If not, what documents do i need to take with me when I arrive. Just my passport?

i am having issues with online check in for my cruise on 6th September 2017. I log in to my account fine and click on online check in. On the next page there are spaces for my booking number, first name and last name. The names are pre-populated but when I click on to the booking number space I am unable to type anything into the box. I have tried several different browsers as well as iPad and desktop systems. Do I need to wait till online check in becomes available or is there something wrong? I have just paid my final payment to my travel agent if this has a bearing?? Any advice would be great.

Well, we decided to try other cruise lines. We have sailed exclusively Royal and Celebrity and love them but wanted to give other lines a go. With the status match getting us straight onto Black, the all inclusive offer and a further £100 cabin discount from the TA it was to hard to resist giving MSC a try. So far, all my communication with MSC has been superb. Unfortunately I couldn't get the 5% Black discount onto of the extra discount I received from the TA, no problem though - the price I paid for an aft cabin with the drink package was far less than I would have paid with RCI or Celebrity. Looking forward to giving them a try - we are very easy going and have never had cause to complain about much so I'm sure everything will be good. The ship, Preziosa looks stunning and elegant with lots of facilities.

We are Elite on Celebrity & Diamond on RCI and got matched to Black.

Just an update... I had to call MSC as my new club number (from status match) wasn't being recognised. Talked to a lovely lady who looked into it but couldn't understand why the number I had been issues wasn't being recognised. She got me a new number and added it to my booking so now I can log in online to manage my booking. She also said that she would apply the 5% discount to my invoice and communicate this to the travel agent.

All things considered I was very impressed with the service I got over the phone, and it helps that it is a local rate call so included in my call package. Looking forward to trying MSC for the first time.

Hi. We are new to MSC and have just done the status match and received Black status. I have seen a cruise we like but it is quite a bit cheaper booking through a travel agent. My question is - can you apply the 5% Black discount to a travel agent booking and if so how? Can it be applied after booking to adjust the final invoice? Thanks for any help.

We have flown into Miami a few times from the UK and have always been dismayed but the long lines at immigration. The last time we were there it took almost 2 hours to get through. My wife is disabled (spina bifida) and although not in a wheelchair finds it uncomfortable to stand or walk for long periods of time.

My wife hates using her disability to cut corners or gain an advantage - she is very stubborn and would prefer to wait in line with everyone else. I was wondering if there was a system in place to help disabled people at Miami airport get through immigration more comfortably. Many years ago we arrived at JFK and an officer noticed my wifes walk and escorted her straight through immigration. Same thing at Heathrow where they either pull you too the front of the electronic gates or let you go through the "medical" line.

Any tips to get through immigration quicker would be appreciated. Also, as we will have ESTA clearance are there electronic automatic gates we can use? The MIA website says there are but I rarely trust official websites - I know CC members will know better!

Hi. I am in the UK and have the Uber app on my iPhone. I will be travelling to Miami later in the year for a cruise and was wondering if my UK app will work in the US or do I need to download a US version? I will have full data allowance in the US so that won't be an issue.

Any advice from other UK cruisers who have done this would be great.

You asked how to lodge your complaint. Here is what I did in a not to similar situation.

We were on the first Harmony cruise. I had picked a balcony cabin with cabins above and below. When we got on the ship we noticed that the cabins that showed on the deck plans above ours weren't there - instead there was work space that was below the children's play pool 2 decks up. We heard constant noise from pumps and maintenance at all times of the night. The key thing I did was to take video of this noise as evidence and then lodged a complain with GS. GS talked to maintenance who didn't believe it until they heard the video playing over the phone. The noise got better but still had issues. Every time we had bad noise I recorded it on my iPhone.

Once home I emailed the CEO in Miami and attached the various movie files. I eventually got a call from the CEO office who were very upset to hear the videos and offered me compensation to use on a future cruise. The lady did mention that the one thing that made them stop and take real notice of my compliant was the video evidence - apparently it was played to the board at a meeting and everyone agreed that this was not what the wanted customers to experience.

So in conclusion... always get evidence to show. Photos/videos work great. Hope you get what you are looking for from RCI.

Can't believe someone hasn't mentioned the BEST thing about celebrity....

Rolled up hand towels waiting ready for you in the public bathrooms!!!

We've just come off Equinox and can confirm it is now Sushi on Five.

Hi all. I am also thinking of booking the 6th November 2017 Southern Caribbean, however, as I will be booking in the UK the same future price drop conditions do not apply so the price paid now is what it is. I am just looking at cabin options for each category. I have previously done the Caribbean in Jan/Feb so could you seasoned cruisers please tell me if weather conditions in November will be ok - I understand it will be the end of your hurricane season? Going with the November rather than end October for this reason although I fully appreciate that this may not be a valid reason. I know the ABC islands are the best option for more favourable weather hence this itinerary. Thank you.

Why don't you book with a US TA? We did for the 6th November cruise and got a great deal including extra OBC from the TA.

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