suebee53

How encouraging! Thanks for the super prompt--and positive--replies! 

My husband, a Chicago Bears fan, will be on the LOS on Sunday, Jan. 6. His beloved Bears play the Eagles at 3:40. Is there a way to find out if they will be showing the game on Sunday? 

Hi. I'm a polio survivor too. And a veteran of 24 cruises, which is the best kind of vacation for me since I use a scooter most of the time. One of those cruises was on the Liberty, with another coming up in 10 days. It is wonderfully accessible. 

Please tell your m-i-l that a scooter is the key to being able to thoroughly enjoy a cruise, especially since she'd be able to get out of it to use her crutches to get to your table in the MDR and other places. (The scooter allows us to avoid overuse of already stressed nerves and muscles, which leads to the unholy trinity of post-polio: fatigue, weakness, and pain. With the availability of rental scooters, there is no reason to endure the looooooooooooong walks from one part of any ship to another!) Since your DH understands how wonderful a scooter can be at WDW, hopefully he can persuade her. And hopefully there is still an accessible cabin available for your April cruise. The shower bench in handicap cabin bathrooms, combined with plenty of hand rails, provide security and stability--especially if there's extra movement while at sea. 

(And if she balks at a scooter, or if a handicap cabin is not available, renting a wheelchair is the way to go. It will always fold up to get through the cabin door.)

I use GoodSam TravelAssist. $80/yr for the family.

This was MOST enlightening! I had never encountered medical travel insurance before, and it's a lot cheaper than what I have been buying.

My husband came down with pneumonia halfway through a week-long cruise one year. If I'd bought insurance, he wouldn't have hesitated to go to the infirmary for an x-ray and get started an antibiotics instead of waiting till debarkation.

Thank you for the money you will be saving us for all future trips!

Another option is the $62 all-inclusive day pass at the Occidental. I get it through this is cozumel dot com (remove spaces). It's a jungle-like environment, very quiet, caters more to adults than kids. The main pool is right next to a lovely beach, and there's good snorkeling. We had been going to the Money Bar for several years, but the AI day pass trumps it.

Don't you love knowing you made so many strangers cry? :::wiping tears:::

Thanks for sharing your story here and linking to your amazing video. Loved, loved, loved it!!

I spent a long weekend at the Iberostar a few years ago and enjoyed it. While none of the Cozumel resorts have been mentioned in the tainted alcohol reports, Iberostar was still one of the chains where there have been problems.

In July I discovered my new go-to place for an AI day pass, at the Occidental. I found it on ThisisCozumel dot com, as the "Jungle Garden Beach Resort Day Pass," for $62. I could not have been more pleased, and the other 15 ladies with me agreed. They were super responsive when I asked about the tainted alcohol issue, including this: "You may also like to know that the owners of this resort (an international Spanish chain of hotels) have now told us that the policies they adhere to are not only regulated by the Government of Mexico, but also independent third parties, such as Check Safety First - which require meeting additional safety and hygiene standards."

Two things: first, the Island Wings seaplane excursion in Ketchikan was THE BEST excursion I've ever done in 22 cruises.

Second, the ramps/gangways in Alaskan ports can get very steep because the tides change things. I had forgotten about the reset button on my scooter when one ramp was too much for my poor little Pride Go-Go, and we had to leave it at the dock while using other transportation in the port city. So the advice to be familiar with the reset button is very very helpful! I've needed to press it repeatedly in especially hilly areas whether we were on a cruise or not.

Right now we have Late seating for dinner but I'm thinking about changing it to Your Time. Does anyone have a reason why I should not do that?

It may be personal preference, but since dinner takes about 90 minutes, you may find that unless you are night owls, late seating dinner means you finish eating shortly before bedtime! Not so great for your body.

What can we expect at check-in? Should I try to get a FTTF ticket? Are disabled people with scooters checked in any differently than the general public? We will probably need help with her luggage to start with since I'll have my own to deal with.

Check-in is one of the only perks of being disabled. They see you coming in your scooter or wheelchair and direct you to special lines that bypass all the able-bodied folks standing in line. Since you are rooming with her, you will go with her, as they process everyone sharing a cabin at the same time.

There will be porters to handle your luggage when you arrive at the port; tip them $1 for each bag they handle, starting with what they pull out of your vehicle. If they'll be pulling her scooter out of the car/van/bus, tip them extra for that. I hope she can use bungee cords to attach her walker to the back of her scooter, since she'll probably need to use one hand to pull her carry-on (on wheels I hope!) as she uses the other hand to steer and press the GO lever.

Have fun!

This thread has become my go-to place for hurricane news (as well as cruise-related updates). Thank you guys!!

Thanks so much!

A friend wants to make her own pour-over coffee in her cabin. She found an electric kettle on Amazon for heating water and is asking if that would be okay. I've never had problem with security confiscating my low-end plastic hot pot, but I don't know if an electric kettle would make it through security in her checked bag.

Has anyone had any problems with an electric kettle on Carnival?

Apparently there is no PM capability on this forum. Please email me the Fun Times to sue at probe dot org . . . Many thanks!

I found this video on YouTube:

Basically, it shows you how quiet and deserted Deck 3 often is.

I love that you did that. My husband of 42 years lost his wedding ring in the fitness center on the Breeze in January. No one turned it in before we disembarked. :-(

In January on the Breeze, the other couple we were traveling with made separate reservations for the steakhouse but we sat together, and the manager said it was one bottle per table. When we pressed she relented, giving us a second freebie bottle. I wish I'd read more reviews here in advance; we might well have gone the 50% off route.

Loved, loved, loved the thalassotherapy pool, and I went in it every day. Varying numbers of people but never as full as the hot tubs out on deck can get!

On the Breeze in January, the free bottle of red was Santa Carolina from Chile. Not great but drinkable. They wanted to limit it to one bottle per table (we were with two other people) but we pushed to get the free bottle for the other two diners. The manager said, "Out of the goodness of my heart, I will let you have another bottle of wine." Kinda crazy. What if we had been at a table of 8?

Re: excursions in Progreso

My husband did the kayaking excursion with Carnival and thoroughly enjoyed it.

My friend and I took the shuttle bus into town (the world's longest pier, 4 miles) and then walked/rode my scooter a couple of blocks to the water where we each got a wonderful massage on the beach CHEAP ($25 maybe?) and then hung out in seats under an umbrella in the sand for a perfect beach day.

Re: oceanview cabin

It reeeeeeally is nice to be able to see what's going on outside. Having cruised in both super-dark interiors (phenomenal for sleeping) and OV cabins, I always book one with a window now. Totally worth the small price difference.

Please thank your husband for his service to us!

are you aware that the 4J handicapped cabin beds sit headboard to headboard and are not allowed to be put together?

 

that you would have much more space in an oceanview cabin?

Well, I know that at least one of the 4J cabins are headboard to headboard, but I have 1002 booked, which is the regular configuration--at least as far as every picture of the cabin I've seen. And since I'm cruising with my sister, we'll keep the beds separate anyway. :-)

Actually, my last OV handicap cabin, on the Liberty, was an L-shaped cabin that did not allow turnaround room for my scooter and I actually had trouble getting my walker past the beds--even pushed together--to get to the bathroom. It was the worst HC experience I've ever had, so I was thrilled to discover I could get a window in an interior HC room. Especially since the only OV HC cabin on the Valor was another L-shaped room. Not gonna do THAT again!

FareViewer! BINGO!!! Just what I was looking for . . . thank you so, so much!!!

I have a cruise booked for October 2017 in a 4J Interior, which means it has a window with an obstructed view (because it's at the front of the ship, looking out over one of the "private" decks). If I do a search for a lower price with a dummy booking on an interior, I don't see a way to specify a 4J, which I need to keep because it's a handicap cabin.

Any ideas? TIA.

With awful arthritis in my hips, I was looking forward to the Thalasso pool more than anything. I spent about 30 minutes in it every afternoon before my pre-dinner shower. It did help with the arthritis, but it also helped with eczema on my legs.

I did a google search on where Carnival gets their water for the T-pool but didn't find an answer--do they draw it up out of the ocean, or add minerals to the desalinized water they make on board? Just curious.

This isn't about the bed configuration, but I do want to suggest that you do a search on Vista threads to see if anyone has remarked on the hardness of the beds. After falling in love with the Carnival Comfort Bed several years ago (to the point of buying one of their mattresses), something changed and the beds have been too hard for me on the last several cruises. So I always ask our cabin steward for a mattress topper the first day. It makes a huge difference, even if all they do is put down a stuffed duvet under the bottom sheet.

You are an excellent writer, Tonya! I'm savoring your review having just gotten off the Breeze (my new favorite ship) 4 days ago.

During the safety drill on our Jan 1 sailing, I was chatting with one of the Entertainment staff about the previous two cruises. I said it was my understanding that holiday cruises can be brutal for the crew because so many of the passengers are grumpy people who don't want to be with family over the holidays so they bring their grumpiness on board with them. He said, "ABSOLUTELY TRUE! It was pretty bad! But we can already tell a difference with the passengers on this cruise."

Obviously, he didn't talk to YOU, with your sunny and grateful disposition!