ufalum88

On 2/1/2024 at 9:32 PM, Bgwest said:

We are in YC presently on the Seascape. We are using the included wifi package that is provided. Our thought was to try the basic and see if it works satisfactorily. If not, then we would buy the upgrade. 
I should also mention that this is a Caribbean cruise. 
This is a screen shot of the performance we’ve been getting. Obviously, we’ve stayed with the included wifi package and have not upgraded. 

As an FYI...the speed of access to the internet is the same for both surf and surf & stream.  The difference is that certain websites like Netflix, Hulu and other 'streaming' sites are blocked.  I cannot speak for youtube.

Allegedly, they increased bandwidth on their Wi-fi.  I can tell you that this is either not true, or they are so overbooking, that we could tell no different between a February and a May sailing.

42 minutes ago, ufalum88 said:

Yes, out of dry dock and significantly understaffed.  I was just on the 5/26/22 sailing and I don’t even want to blame the staff for the lack of service, because other than a few exceptions, they were doing their best. The problem appears to be that Carnival cannot get visas for their potential employees. This may be true. But then the issue is not whether or not they have enough staff; the issue is why is Carnival booking their ships to maximum occupancy if they do not have enough staff to service all the people? I do not believe that they have enough staff on the Sunrise for 1,000 people, let alone 3,000+...which is how many were on the Memorial Day weekend cruise.  It was a disaster. 

I forgot to mention that most of the elevators were unavailable throughout the cruise without any explanation as to why certain elevator banks of 6 only had one working.

Yes, out of dry dock and significantly understaffed.  I was just on the 5/26/22 sailing and I don’t even want to blame the staff for the lack of service, because other than a few exceptions, they were doing their best. The problem appears to be that Carnival cannot get visas for their potential employees. This may be true. But then the issue is not whether or not they have enough staff; the issue is why is Carnival booking their ships to maximum occupancy if they do not have enough staff to service all the people? I do not believe that they have enough staff on the Sunrise for 1,000 people, let alone 3,000+...which is how many were on the Memorial Day weekend cruise.  It was a disaster. 

It's their ocean.

That said, Cozumel is better than a private island...where they cram thousands on to a few strips of sand.

1 hour ago, WarGuyEd said:

 

No, I did not have any disabled children. But, my brother has as autistic son who has severe "food issues". So, I understand where you are coming from with the difficulties in trying to mesh your child's needs with the cruise lines rules.

 

But, in requesting these "accommodations" you are asking the cruise line to break "USPH regulations" that can shut them down if they are caught. That is not a fair request. If you want to try to break the rules or regulations by sneaking something onboard, that is on you, but to ask that of the cruise line is a different matter.

 

If you want to change the regulations so that the cruise line can make these accommodations, then your beef needs to be with the governing body and not the cruise line.

 

I'm sorry if I sound mean or rude, I certainly do not intend to be and I completely sympathize with your problem. I just think your directing your frustration at the cruise lines, when they are just following regulations, is misplaced.

 

 

and I apologize if I’m overly sensitive because of my child and her needs.  It has awakened me to the difficulties facing these folks.  I was rather callous to this problem before hand. So I should not be so quick to anger.

Yet you felt compelled to leave that long winded response. All the while, not paying attention to the fact that I wasn’t trying to bring fruits or other prohibited food.  In fact, I don’t want to bring anything. If you read my post before, I’m looking for a way to contact someone so that the cruiseship can bring the stuff that I need. Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Disney etc. have done this for us. Unlike you, a nice person on this thread gave me useful information and a line worked with us in the past.  I came back hoping to get similar direction for MSC.
 

On 10/27/2019 at 12:24 AM, PhoenixCruiser said:

 

Unfortunately cruising isn't for everyone 

good point. Perhaps the disabled, elderly and obese should all avoid cruising. 
 

One of the things I’ve learned from having a disabled child is that some peoples lives can be made so much easier if we all just make slight accommodations for those less fortunate. If you are just a rigid functionary, then you do not have to worry about other people and you can go through your life just doing your job without any hiccups. However, I am going to assume that everyone of us has asked someone for a slight accommodation so they can accomplish something that would make their life better.

7 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Sarcasm well noted, and completely disregarded.  Yes, I've raised three boys to full manhood.  And, I am disregarding your statement as completely irrelevant, since what most people don't know is that even their home refrigerator does not necessarily keep potentially hazardous foods within the safe zone, and many folks, even the best parents, think that PHF can be out of the safe zone "for just a little while, it won't hurt", when it may very well hurt.

 

So, you get to choose which laws and regulations you ignore, or want someone else to ignore, just because you feel they are meaningless?  That's what is making America great again.

what I feel or don’t feel has nothing to do with it. Like I said, if you were a parent with a child who had special needs, you might understand. Sometimes rules have to be bent in special circumstances. Further, I’m not looking to bend the rules, I’m looking for an accommodation with regard to something the cruise line can do.  I only want to bring food on board as a last resort. Fortunately, other people on this forum have been much more helpful.

23 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I understand that your issue has been resolved, and yes, the other cruise lines that you mention are in fact in violation of USPH regulations in allowing you to bring "potentially hazardous foods" onboard.  Why? Because they have no idea how you handled the PHF prior to bringing it onboard (was it kept within temperature guidelines the entire time?), or how you handle it once onboard.  Whether other cruise lines have a greater "risk tolerance" and allowed this to happen is irrelevant, this is not a case of RCI "not caring".

 

As an example of how serious the handling of PHF is taken, we had a USPH inspection on my ship once, and the inspector took a random yogurt from the room service refrigerator, stuck a thermometer into it, found it was above 40*F, and gave us a 5 point deduction (out of a possible 15 points deduction to pass) for one yogurt carton.

Excellent point. We would give our special needs child potentially tainted food and items that may not be properly refrigerated. What parent wouldn’t?  Please note the thick sarcasm.

I don’t know if you are a parent but I am fairly confident that you’re not a parent of a child with special needs. The regulations you are discussing are meaningless to a parent who’s child has nothing to eat. This is not a situation with a spoiled kid who just eats what he or she wants to eat. When your child has a sensitivity and cannot eat anything with milk, anything with eggs, or anything with gluten, your menu is very limited. So when the cruise line says, “sorry we can’t accommodate her. Thanks for cruising with us“ that answer is unacceptable. The only choice is to bring something on board. If these regulations do not allow that, then accommodation needs to be made. RCL’s Accommodations were to bring special yogurt, special cheese and special gluten-free dough on board for my daughter. I thought at the time that this was an accommodation unique to Royal. Since then, multiple other cruise lines of done this. The problem we are having now is with MSC. They are notorious for their poor customer service. If they refuse to do anything, we will be smuggling food on board. Damn the regulations.  I hope they get 100 points off, whatever that means.

My special needs daughter cannot eat milk products, eggs or gluten; so we need to bring a non-dairy yogurt for her breakfast (and no her diet cannot vary), vegan cheese and gluten free pizza crusts. MSC acknowledged that they will not have these items on board. The functionaries with whom I spoke could not have cared less about my daughter's well being. They continue to repeat the same mantra: Perishable food items are not permitted to be brought onboard due to U.S. Public Health Guidelines.

This is odd because on past cruises, MSC did not have an issue.  Most cruise lines accommodate us by making sure that they have items for my daughter's needs.  RCCL, Disney, HAL, etc have all had items for her brought on board.  Albeit, with RCCL, we had the same issue until I spoke with one of the line's vice presidents.  Would anyone know a muckety muck from MSC with whom we can speak?

Any suggestions?  I cannot go on a cruise and just feed her gluten free pasta, berries and cheerios for a week.

On 9/6/2018 at 3:55 PM, BEENSAILING said:

 

I am glad it worked out for you. Many times when you reach a call center - not just for Royal - they have standard responses. It is too bad you had to speak to so many people only to get the same not helpful answers. I am happy to know that someone in Mr. Bayley’s office was indeed able to help you. Enjoy your cruise. - Cheryl

As a follow up, would you know the same info for MSC?  They are giving us the same close minded refusal that Royal did, at first.  

Thanks again.

I suggest you send an email to the office of Michael Bayley (President of Royal). In the email explain the situation re your daughter’s dietary restrictions, let them know the ship cruise and date and ask if there is assistance they can provide to you.

mbayley@rccl.com

Thank you for your suggestion of carbon copying the president and providing his email. I did this and we finally got a supervisor. She took care of everything. BEENSAILING you are a hero!

As for the person who suggested that we change cruise lines or vacations....seriously?

Even now, in 2018, this is still going on with RCCL. According to everyone with whom I have spoken, they do NOT allow prepackaged foods unless they are non-perishable. So crackers are OK, but anything that can go bad is not allowed.

My daughter cannot eat milk products so we need to bring a non-dairy yogurt for her breakfast (and no her diet cannot vary), which RCCL acknowledged that they will not have on board. The functionaries with whom I spoke could not have cared less about my daughter's well being. They continue to repeat the same mantra: Perishable food items are not permitted to be brought onboard due to U.S. Public Health Guidelines.

This is of course nonsense when it comes to things like prepackaged yogurt. Is RCCL violating this rule by bringing yoplait? Was MSC, Oceania, Holland America, Norwegian, etc in violation of those guidelines when they immediately agreed that we could bring on whatever was needed for my child's special needs? Of course not. This is just RCCL not caring.

I have asked multiple times for a cite to the guideline to which they are referring....a guideline that will not allow prepackaged yogurt...and not one of their cookie cutter responses has even attempted to respond to this question.

I have noticed that Puerto Limon is being listed on many MSC itineraries, and then later dropped. They have the right to do this...until it becomes false advertising.

Does anyone know why Puerto Limon is being dropped? I called MSC and they knew nothing of this.

Just got this email...REALLY disappointed.

That's a dramatic blow to the itinerary. The industrialization of Aruba has devastated the ocean surrounding the island. What was once magnificent snorkeling and diving now looks like a coral graveyard. If you want to shop and lay out on the beach, Oranjestad is fine...if you do not mind the view of factories from the beach.

Whereas Puerto Limon is a gateway to much of the rain forests of Costa Rica. I feel for the people who have never been there before.

Also, why the switch? Puerto Cristobal in Panama will offer much the same access to the interior of Panama as does Puerto Colon. So, this change makes little sense from an itinerary standpoint...unless better souvenir shopping is the goal for these changes. I hope that is not the case. If the goal is to see beautiful parts of Central America and the islands, this is a big misstep...and may be MSC's doing because they have dropped Puerto Limon from many itineraries.

I was just on the Celebrity Reflection...and they blocked my VPN, even accessing their help website.

There is no way that there is a $20 charge to get in with the food a la carte.

 

Count me as one of the people who misses Bistro on 5. We used to enjoy a nice, quiet lunch there after embarking.

Thanks for the response. I am still confused however, because I look at the Sushi on 5 menu and there are prices by every item...therefore it is a la carte. BUT...to make a reservation pre-cruise, Celebrity charges $20. So, I must assume that amount will be credited to your bill?

You are repeating inaccurate info. People who eat no meat derivatives are vegetarian. That’s what the V on Celebrity’s menus indicate. Vegans eat no dairy and should notify Celebrity in advance of their diet to be accommodated. Celebrity’s site says that they cater widely for vegetarians and yet those cheese based vegetarian offerings contain meat derivatives.

 

In June on Eclipse we met with the F&B manager and Chef who admitted the vegetarian dishes on the main menu were not vegetarian and that all cheese had been removed from the vegetarian menu until they could resolve the issue fleetwide.

 

So it seems they might now understand the problem.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Celebrity aside, he was not wrong. You just cannot seem to get beyond getting your definitions accepted.

All these answers...and no one responded to the original posters question. Is the charge $20 to get in and then everything is a la carte?

In the US we have varying vegetarian diets:

Lacto-vegetarian diets exclude meat, fish, poultry and eggs, as well as foods that contain them. Dairy products, such as milk, cheese, yogurt and butter, are included.

Ovo-vegetarian diets exclude meat, poultry, seafood and dairy products, but allow eggs.

Lacto-ovo vegetarian diets exclude meat, fish and poultry, but allow dairy products and eggs.

Pescatarian diets exclude meat and poultry, dairy, and eggs, but allow fish.

Pollotarian diets exclude meat, dairy and fish, but allow poultry.

Vegan diets exclude meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products — and foods that contain these products.

Some people follow a semivegetarian diet — also called a flexitarian diet — which is primarily a plant-based diet but includes meat, dairy, eggs, poultry and fish on occasion or in small quantities.

 

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/vegetarian-diet/art-20046446

 

Celebrity's vegetarian meals will / may be made with broths including animal products, i.e. chicken stock.

If you don't eat any animal by products you'll need to order vegan.

You are 100% correct, of course. Regardless of contrary opinions.

There is also plant based, which is vegan/vegetarian with the occasional allowance.

Not exactly.

The TVs on cruise ships are "hotel TVs" (nowadays, standard flat screen TVs in hotel mode). They switch back to a predefined input and channel (the vessel's information channel, usually) every time you turn them on.

This is useful both to reduce service work (if a guest fiddles with things, just switching the TV off and on will usually put things back to normal) as well as giving the ship an easy but unintrusive way to relay information like tender times, safety videos, etc.

Bing! We have a winner. Jim&Stan is trying to be helpful, but if you want to hook up your device, you can. Toggle the input and you'll find your connected device. When you disconnect, turn the TV off and it should go back to the original set up.

Not that you may connect other electronics to.

If there are ports on the specific device, they are supposed to have been disabled at the time of installation.

I do not believe this is correct. I will be onboard the Marina in a few days and will let you know.