shipgeeks

Thank you for mentioning Transvaal Castle! We sailed on her in 1999, as Premier's IslandBreeze. Beautiful ship, and the best and loudest ship's horn we've ever heard. The captain mentioned that one time he set off every car alarm in the Port of Messina with it. Spirit of London, Premier's StarShip Majestic in 1991, is similarly special to us.

I've read a couple of posts recently that mentioned calling RC for an unrelated reason, being told you have an unpaid charge, and asking for immediate payment before proceeding. As it turned out, the phone number the people called was a scam number, not RC, but obtained from a clever listing somewhere. Could that be the case here?

I've heard good things about Trinity Reservations for B'more area hotels, including info on which offer shuttles (airport, port), restaurants in the area, etc.

And if you do the 9-nighter, Bermuda and Bahamas, you get two formal nights!

Check the benefits of the credit card you used. I discovered that ours covers everything that travel insurance would.

On some of the social media First Time Cruisers forums that I see, Decorating Your Door is one of the things that people are told "everyone does", along with buying and hiding 50 - 100 ducks, wearing a lanyard at all times, carrying a Stanley cup around all the time, and furnishing the inside of your cabin with your own storage products, fan, etc.

As well as doing a C/NE cruise most years, we also do a winter Caribbean cruise from Baltimore regularly, with outside temps frequently below freezing, and sometimes snow on pool deck. It has always been comfortable on the ship. I'm more likely to be wearing long sleeves anyway, but certainly no need for anything beyond that.

Recently, I've been seeing a lot of reviews/reports (more elsewhere, rather than on CC) from people just back from their first cruise, with enthusiastic questions from many who have not yet sailed. The problem is that the posters seem to assume that their experiences are universal. "Ships have a fridge in the cabin." No, not necessarily. It depends on the cruiseline, the ship, and perhaps the category of cabin. "They will accommodate any dietary needs you have"/"They are not willing to make even the smallest concession". If you want to check on which items are gluten-free, most likely the signs/menus/servers will help. If you think your vegan meals should be prepared in a strictly vegan kitchen by a dedicated vegan chef, you will most likely be disappointed. Although any advice (even mine) should be taken with a grain of salt, my observation is that reviews by those who just had their first cruise experience can be especially biased, with many errors regarding what others will find. Don't believe everything you read!

Thank you for the reminder. I see ours every time I pull out the Misc. Cruise Documents folder, but haven't used them since 1989 honeymoon. Figuring out what to do with them is now on my To Do list.

Check the travel benefits of the credit card you use for the cruise. Some of them, even non-premium cards, cover everything insurance would, as long as you pay for the cruise with that card.

The email re bed setup, medical needs, etc. comes just a couple of days before the cruise, and the inbox title is quite generic, so I think many miss it. Something like "welcome aboard". I've been told you have to reply that day. For those of us who want the king bed, and no special needs, we don't even need to reply.

It's interesting to me what different people consider "rough", and then what different people consider enjoyable. I would place myself closer to OP's desire to sail in a storm. I've done so many times, including being blown across an open deck, meals at which the tablecloths were wetted down, etc. I've been on many more in which doors to the outside decks were locked, shows were cancelled to protect the safety of the dancers, little bags were placed at stairways. But I've also been on cruises with nothing but calm seas for days at a time.....and I hear people say "I don't think I'll ever cruise again if it's always this rough", and "Apparently this ship doesn't have stabilizers, we are really rocking and rolling". Apparently perception varies!

I see you are in PA, as are we. We also sometimes use canes. I would like to recommend sailing from Baltimore, on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas. The port is very user-friendly. There are provisions for passengers in wheelchairs and others needing assistance, both in the terminal and at boarding. The ship is small (a bit over 2,000 passengers). The crew are wonderful. Because the ship does not have the rides and sports facilities that the big ships have, the majority of the passengers are adults. I like to say that one of the benefits of a small ship is that I can always go back to my cabin to use my own bathroom, instead of using a public one and possibly picking up some public germs. Vision was named RC Ship of the Year for 2023, based on post-cruise surveys. I believe that is due mainly to the crew, who are exceedingly pleasant and helpful. Itineraries vary, with Bermuda, Caribbean, and Canada/New England making up the bulk. Most are 9- or 12-nights, therefore another reason why there are more mature adults and fewer party animals.

We pack pretty much the same for our 9-night and 12-night cruises as we used to do for 7 nights. More undies, more pills, I guess. It's still the same one toothbrush each, one hairbrush each, one pair black shoes, one pair sneakers, or whatever. We don't use or do laundry. It all goes by so quickly no matter how long the cruise is.

And as long as you don't mind carrying it around with you until cabins are available (usually after 1pm). We find even having small carryons with us is a bit of a burden, and we don't board til close to 1:00.)

Stop in at the visitors center, right at the end of the pier. You can get a nice map, and talk to nice people there. We like to walk to the right of the port, up Fore Street I believe, a street with Victorian houses along the way, and at the top a nice view of the bay. Then Eastern Promenade to Congress Street, which will take you back through town and a number of points of interest, and eventually into the Arts District. You can circle back at any point.

No. If the menu is to be believed, all the options are now vegan. Nothing is noted as vegetarian. And IMO, they are not nearly as varied or as tasty as when they were called vegetarian.

It has been in the morning on all eight cruises we've done since the restart.

Two or three days before your cruise, you will receive an email re "Welcome Aboard" or similar. Open it that day, and you will find a questionnaire which includes bed setup as well as medical equipment requests. If you want the king bed, you don't need to do anything. If you want "beds apart", indicate that, and send it back that day.

However, it's very worthwhile seeing the enormous gap in the bridge that came down on March 26, as you sail out of Baltimore. Even though we had watched the collapse, and the work that went on for many weeks after (on our laptops), seeing it live was eye-opening.

My information is that they are informed who has prepaid/doing daily charge/removed gratuities. Of course we all know that our waiters and cabin stewards are the primary recipients, and some give cash to them. But I always think of the crew who spend their day sterilizing the stair rails and elevator buttons; do people hand them $ every time they pass by? I'm comfortable just pre-paying, and knowing that people like that will get their fair share. And my exceptional waiters and steward will get some extra $ and a good mention on the survey.

Heidi's mention of wetting the tablecloths brought back to me my first experience at sea, crossing the Pacific on a cargo ship. We had a number of consecutive days in which all meals were served on wetted tablecloths, we were tossed out of bed at night, etc. Of the 13 passengers (one couple had a child, plus another one on the way), only one lady ever missed a meal, or otherwise excused themselves from the usual day's routine. As far as I know, no one took any seasickness meds or had any nausea or other discomfort. I know that 13 is not a representative number for statistics, but when someone claims that "everyone should take meds before and during every cruise", and "everyone will get seasick any time the seas are rough", I will be the first to disagree.

Just two or three days before your cruise, you should receive an email regarding such requests. You can select two beds ("beds apart") at that time. And if all else fails, just ask your cabin steward when you meet him.

My somewhat-educated guess would be one. And it might be called Dress Your Best, depending on the cruise director.

Not an issue at all.