Wheeling_family_of_3

Yes! I am highly susceptible to seasickness though, so take that into consideration. We had very smooth seas and I could still feel it, particularly in the spa, which is a low deck. I took Bonine the whole trip. It lasts 24 hours so I only had to take it once a day. I started it after I was on board for a day or two because everyone told me it was so large that I'd never feel it rock. But I did! The Bonine took care of it immediately though.

On a much smaller ship, my then 6 year old son had wicked seasickness and his doctor gave us a small dose of Valium to him. That helped tremendously. But you have to know in advance and they calculate the dose carefully based on weight.

Hope that helps!

We received absolutely stellar service from our cabin steward and dining room staff (all of them) and so I wrote a snail mail letter to RC (in addition to the cards on board you give to guest services at the end of the cruise) giving all of their full first and last names, and the ship, sailing and date we were onboard. A few weeks later, I received a phone call from RC thanking me for my letter and told me that each of the staff members would receive written congratulations in their permanent personnel files!

If you get outstanding service, I highly recommend saying so!

We always utilize on board laundry for pressing and washing/drying. Mid week, they offer a bag for a certain price (I forgot how much but it was very reasonable), that is all you can fit. We got tons of shorts, shirts and underwear and PJs in that bag. If you roll your laundry very very tightly instead of folding it, you can get an amazing amount of laundry in that bag!

Thanks! Appreciate all the replies!

From what I understand (we are first time Celebrity cruisers, normally we are RCCL cruisers), we are in a Sky Suite where there is a stateroom attendant, an assistant attendant, a "European trained butler" and a concierge. First, is this correct? And second, what is a reasonable tip for the butler and concierge? We usually leave $100 for the stateroom attendant at the end of the week on top of the included tips paid in advance. So I guess we'll also give $100 to the asst. stateroom attendant. Not sure the concierge merits $100, but curious on the collective thoughts on it, plus on the butler.

Seeing the ship for the first time! I feel giddy just thinking about it. :D

 

I seriously envy those of you who are able to turn off your phone for the whole week and feel relaxed. I would be a basket case! We've had too many problems in our family that have happened at home while on a vacation. Even had to cut a vacation short one time.

I unplugged totally for the last two 7 day cruises. It was AWESOME. I let my son have unlimited internet, but we unplugged.

That moment when you walk through the huge doorway for the first time into the Promenade deck! Totally thrills me every time.

Can you wear a GoPro with a headstrap on the zipline on Labadee? I'd like to wear it so my (disabled) husband can vicariously live it with me, but if I take it up there with me and then find out it's not allowed, I don't know what I'd do then. Anyone know whether you can wear it if it's securely strapped to your head?

I HIGHLY recommend a TIGHT fitting bathing suit. I had one of those infamous wardrobe malfunctions on the flowrider!! ** embarrassed face here **

For reasons I don't understand, we were charged only $120 for 2 devices, unlimited for a 7 night cruise on Oasis this last December. We didn't complain though!

Just off Oasis and you could take as many blue pool towels as you wanted at the pool decks without having to check them out against your seapass. On port days, they had towel stands just at the edge of the gangway (once you got off) where you could check out as many as you wanted, but they were assessed against your seapass and you were charged $25 per if you didn't return them upon returning to the ship.

Subject says it all :)

We used Visa debit card, so I don't know if it's different for AmEx, but they didn't put a hold on at all. We made purchases throughout the day, then they processed one charge for the exact total amount each night around 11 pm.

Main dining room. A million choices, and you can either order off the menu for table service, or do the buffet. And it's never crowded, especially not on port days.

That also came into play. First cruise we had the MDR with a couple who got a bottle of wine every night. Now, not that we were expecting anything but it seemed a little... :rolleyes: So we have made it a point at every cruise after to get at least one bottle at dinner to split with our tablemates. Radiance went all wrong-in-the-right-way because everyone at the table all had wine packages and everyone shared. :o

I have to say, I would not have shared our wine with tablemates, but our table was all family members traveling with us, so it didn't come up.

Thank you so much for the explanation of the process, that cleared up all the questions I had. We are currently booked in a h/c balcony room Dec 27-Jan 3, and then we move up to a h/c Jr. Suite Jan 3-10 (we are waitlisted for a Jr. Suite Dec 27-Jan 3 unfortunately, there are literally TWO on the ENTIRE ship.....sigh).

As for other lines, when our son was 6, we went on Disney and it had a lot of neat features, such as the rotating restaurants with the same staff, and the spa was very nice. But we're just not big "Disney people" in general. Our whole extended family went for my parents anniversary because they are big time Disney people. My husband has been on a smaller class of RC ship, I forgot which and while he enjoyed it, he says he can never go back now! A big factor for us is our very active 14 year old. He revels in the seemingly endless activities (and he's never yet even ventured into the teen club!) and food. He is a true foodie (yes, at 14! :D) and died with delight at 150 Central Park for example. He also just idolizes the ship, he loves it so much, and I can't say we feel differently. :)

As he ages out of wanting to go cruising with dear ole mom and dad, we are thinking of trying one of Celebrity's large ships. But for at least the next few years, Oasis/Allure it is!

One benefit of the alcohol package that we didn't even realize until after we'd already ordered and consumed our (very) expensive bottle of wine at dinner, is that you get 20% bottles of wine in any of the restaurants. The waiter told us when he brought the check and showed us the 20% off. We saved close to $100 just on that alone.

They will come pound on your door and check to make sure you're not in it too. My dad found this out the hard way!

We get up about 7, walk off at 8, hit the road for the long drive back to NC by 9 am. Grab some McD's for breakfast somewhere along I-95. Try not to sob. :)

We need an accessible room and there are very few of them in the category we want so we can't stay in the same room it appears right now.

Just to clarify, I know the $100 pp fee is not a lot and will be totally willing to accept the loss of the $200 dollars. However, if there was a possibility to not lose that money, why wouldn't I want that? Just looking for my best options to deal with this.:)

Holy crap, you are quibbling over $200 when they refunded after the drop dead date?! Don't be ungrateful. Just pay the $200 and don't complain. You got a very compassionate response.

And sincere best wishes to you and your wife. She will be in my good thoughts. I'll also visit your FB page.

Extension cords are a no-no from what I understand.

We left iphones, a gopro, an expensive camera, and an ipad left in plain sight at various points. Never even occurred to me to put them in the safe!

I would just like to commend RC on their treatment of their disabled customers. My husband is paralyzed from the neck down and drives a wheelchair with his chin. As his wife, you cannot imagine how many times I am automatically assumed to be his nurse, the number of times people address me instead of him, when servers in restaurants ask ME what HE wants, and hardly ANYONE ever brings us a menu for him (like he somehow has it memorized??), and how he was injured.

On Oasis, two years running now, I can tell you that NOT ONCE did ANY of that happen. Never. Either they have some seriously AWESOME training on how to treat people with disabilities or they happen to pick 2400 awesome staff! :)

OH, and no one said to me the old "You are so .... SPECIAL .... " (because no one seems to consider that I personally get a lot of this marriage too!). That one drives me NUTS!

Throwing in a related question if you are going to be moving cabins, what is the process?