Striking Out to New Turf – A Joy(ful) Live – 3/18 – 3/25, Western Caribbean

[ceilidh1]

12 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

You can get any 4 food items when using a specialty dining credit at Food Republic.  

 

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

What @YVRteacher said. We did not try to split the dining credit as we wanted more food, so just used two credits. The staff did keep asking us, "you're using two credits, right?" This kind of gave me the thought they'd rather not deal with splitting one between both of us, but I can't really offer anything more than this to the topic. 

 

When you look at Food Republic's menu, you can order any four items. This includes dessert (Sugar Pump). Anything above the four items, per dining credit, can be purchased a la carte. Our server told us he would itemize the receipt so the lowest cost item would be what we'd actually pay for. 

Thanks both!

That may be the way we go then...two credits would be 8 items so that should (hopefully) be enough. I've been going down the rabbit hole of trying to work out how whether to buy a dining package for guest 3 - but then she would have 2 credits and we would have one, so then upgrading to FAS+ for the two of us, but then we would have 3 credits and she would have 2...I'm over this mental math. Lol

[cruiseny4life]

One area I did do well in on this cruise was not gaining a ton of weight! Despite all the photos of yummy food I posted, I managed to walk away from this cruise only having gained two pounds. That's much better than previous cruises. There's a few reasons for this:

 

1. We used the stairs almost all the time. We did succumb to the elevator every so often, but for the most part, we used our muscles to get us up and down each deck. 

2. I didn't go overboard on alcohol. In fact, I had fewer than twenty drinks on the entire cruise. At least of the drinks were Grey Goose, club soda, with a splash of cranberry (sometimes). And, I only had a couple sips of my husband's Coke. 

3. With the exception of the "last supper," I stayed away from potatoes. I hardly had any of those lovely little puffs of fried potatoes known as hash browns! Now, that last night, I did have about 1/4 of a baked potato and a few fries. I didn't order either, but they appeared. I did order the silky pomme puree and finished those off.

4. We actually had foreign ports! When we stopped, on previous cruises, in Port Canavarel and Miami, we stayed on the ship. This time, except for Harvest Caye we walked miles. In Roatan we walked two hours before starting a tour. In Cozumel, we walked, and walked, and walked! 

 

For those interested (I doubt any of you are), I kept my blood sugar at an ok, but not acceptable level. Since my last appointment where I was called out for not doing a damn thing (A1C of 9.6), I actually started to do some work toward not dying sooner. So, on the cruise, even after a fairly heady day of eating, my blood sugar was between 100 and 150. That was a fasting blood sugar, so sure as hell not great, but way better than before. Especially considering I was on a cruise. 

 

Since the cruise, I've dropped the couple pounds gained, and lost about six more, but that's more likely due to being sick since getting off the ship with a cold and pink eye. Yep, I have a cold and pink eye. My lovely husband had food poisoning, so you know what was happening with him. At least we both lost weight thanks to being sick! 

[laudergayle]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Since the cruise, I've dropped the couple pounds gained, and lost about six more, but that's more likely due to being sick since getting off the ship with a cold and pink eye. Yep, I have a cold and pink eye. My lovely husband had food poisoning, so you know what was happening with him. At least we both lost weight thanks to being sick

Congrats on your blood sugar and weight loss!  Being healthy is a blessing that we have some control over.  Now…about being sick after cruising.  EVERY cruise we’ve taken since restart we’ve come home sick (once covid and 3x a cold).  And yet, we’re still cruising.  Last year we missed most of our Alaska cruise due to a norovirus outbreak onboard (I can feel your husband’s misery).  And yet, we’re still cruising.  Obv the germs/virus can come from anywhere on the trip.  It’s time for you to plan your next cruise so you can start your “live”…bahaha

[Sailing12Away]

14 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

For those interested (I doubt any of you are), I kept my blood sugar at an ok, but not acceptable level. Since my last appointment where I was called out for not doing a damn thing (A1C of 9.6), I actually started to do some work toward not dying sooner. So, on the cruise, even after a fairly heady day of eating, my blood sugar was between 100 and 150. That was a fasting blood sugar, so sure as hell not great, but way better than before. Especially considering I was on a cruise. 

Now you're talking my language. I'm a medical laboratory scientist - this is my bread & butter. With an A1c that high those fasting levels are actually great (the 100 at least). Anything less than 120 for you is 'fine'. If you actually dip too much lower than that despite being 'abnormal high' (for 'normal' people) - for you it would actually start to fall in the range of 'abnormal low'. 

 

For non diabetics, fasting glucose is usually <100. For diabetics though, their bodies have gotten used to the higher sugar levels and when you guys start to dip below that you can start feeling the symptoms of hypoglycemia. So despite being normal for us - it's abnormal for you. And your fasting level of 125 for example is abnormal for us, but quite normal for you. Did I get you all spun around and confused yet?

 

If you're willing to share I'd be curious what you're down to in 3-6 months when you get it next checked. If your fasting levels have been consistently less than 150 your A1c will definitely drop quite a bit.

 

/nerdy science divergence

[cruisebeachgirl703]

Enjoyed your review. (we were onboard too) When/where did your husband get food poisoning?

[cruiseny4life]

16 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Congrats on your blood sugar and weight loss!  Being healthy is a blessing that we have some control over.  Now…about being sick after cruising.  EVERY cruise we’ve taken since restart we’ve come home sick (once covid and 3x a cold).  And yet, we’re still cruising.  Last year we missed most of our Alaska cruise due to a norovirus outbreak onboard (I can feel your husband’s misery).  And yet, we’re still cruising.  Obv the germs/virus can come from anywhere on the trip.  It’s time for you to plan your next cruise so you can start your “live”…bahaha

DON'T SAY THAT!!!! I don't need to be starting a live so soon. It hurt me to do it, but...well, it helps with my ridiculous anticipation. But really, thank you for the congrats! It's not over. I have to actually keep on it. You're right about having some control over our health. We'll see how it goes. 

 

Back in February we were the recipients of norovirus from a land-based restaurant. See! It can happen anywhere. It's a lovely time - I'm just glad this time it ain't me! 

 

18 minutes ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

Enjoyed your review. (we were onboard too) When/where did your husband get food poisoning?

Not on the ship! I'm pretty confident he got it when he decided to order a double down sandwich from KFC, but who really knows. I'm sticking with this hypothesis as I strongly dislike KFC. 🙂 

 

[cruiseny4life]

2 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Now you're talking my language. I'm a medical laboratory scientist - this is my bread & butter. With an A1c that high those fasting levels are actually great (the 100 at least). Anything less than 120 for you is 'fine'. If you actually dip too much lower than that despite being 'abnormal high' (for 'normal' people) - for you it would actually start to fall in the range of 'abnormal low'. 

 

For non diabetics, fasting glucose is usually <100. For diabetics though, their bodies have gotten used to the higher sugar levels and when you guys start to dip below that you can start feeling the symptoms of hypoglycemia. So despite being normal for us - it's abnormal for you. And your fasting level of 125 for example is abnormal for us, but quite normal for you. Did I get you all spun around and confused yet?

 

If you're willing to share I'd be curious what you're down to in 3-6 months when you get it next checked. If your fasting levels have been consistently less than 150 your A1c will definitely drop quite a bit.

 

/nerdy science divergence

Oh wow! I didn't realize you worked in a lab. That must have been fascinating (and exhausting) over the last few years. 

 

And yes, I'll share in a few months. Actually, the A1C measurement I shared is from three months ago. I'm due to get the lab work this week. Technically, I should have done it last week since my follow up is tomorrow, but the doc will just have to call me when we get the results. I'm hoping for something in the 7's. 

 

I've actually had the hypoglycemic symptoms when my sugar has been below 100, so I do know exactly what you're talking about! It's an interesting feeling to know that "technically" I'm fine, but my body sure doesn't agree with that. The joys of being fat and stupid, eh? I really feel for those that are type one and had no control over getting diabetes. At least I know it's my own fault. 

[cruiseny4life]

I'm going to attempt to take a moment to get one of the islands out of the way this evening! I downloaded all the photos to my PC at home for safekeeping, thus the cloud decided to auto-delete them. That's one reason my during work posting strategy didn't work AND work has been far too busy the last week and a half. Apparently, I'm expected to work! 

[cruisebeachgirl703]

20 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

DON'T SAY THAT!!!! I don't need to be starting a live so soon. It hurt me to do it, but...well, it helps with my ridiculous anticipation. But really, thank you for the congrats! It's not over. I have to actually keep on it. You're right about having some control over our health. We'll see how it goes. 

 

Back in February we were the recipients of norovirus from a land-based restaurant. See! It can happen anywhere. It's a lovely time - I'm just glad this time it ain't me! 

 

Not on the ship! I'm pretty confident he got it when he decided to order a double down sandwich from KFC, but who really knows. I'm sticking with this hypothesis as I strongly dislike KFC. 🙂 

 

Thanks. Hope he is feeling better.

[Sugar Magnolia]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Back in February we were the recipients of norovirus from a land-based restaurant. See! It can happen anywhere. It's a lovely time - I'm just glad this time it ain't me! 

 

Not on the ship! I'm pretty confident he got it when he decided to order a double down sandwich from KFC, but who really knows. I'm sticking with this hypothesis as I strongly dislike KFC. 🙂 

 

 

When I was in Moscow a few years ago, my tour guide was shocked to learn that I was a teetotaler, told me that vodka is both a preventive measure and a cure for all ailments, and encouraged me to start drinking vodka. She was completely serious. Was wondering if your husband heard such comments when growing up.

 

[CDR Benson]

26 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

When I was in Moscow a few years ago, my tour guide was shocked to learn that I was a teetotaler, told me that vodka is both a preventive measure and a cure for all ailments, and encouraged me to start drinking vodka. She was completely serious. Was wondering if your husband heard such comments when growing up.

 

 

Drinking vodka doesn't cure the ailment---you just won't care that you have it, anymore.

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

7 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

When I was in Moscow a few years ago, my tour guide was shocked to learn that I was a teetotaler, told me that vodka is both a preventive measure and a cure for all ailments, and encouraged me to start drinking vodka. She was completely serious. Was wondering if your husband heard such comments when growing up.

 

I just talked with him to find out what he could tell me about this. It sounds like it may have been something one would do a few decades ago. He said no one that believes in 21st century medicine would use vodka to cure an ailment or anything. I wonder if vodka in Russia was like whiskey in America? I know I used to hear older folks always talking about just taking a shot of whiskey to make it better...or...

 

6 hours ago, CDR Benson said:

 

Drinking vodka doesn't cure the ailment---you just won't care that you have it, anymore.

 

 

it was just as Commander Benson states!

 

I will say, when I met my mother-in-law, once we got to her house, we did have a "welcome to Russia/the family" vodka shot together. I partook. My husband did not, but then, I'm the drinker of the family....not saying much given how little I actually drink.

[cruiseny4life]

Before the cruise, we purchased a shore excursion in every port. We waffled back and forth between a few, booking and canceling several. Finally, we settled on a beach day in Roatan at Fantasy Island. It would be a beach day for us, enjoying the sun, surf, and breeze.

 

Then we saw the forecast before embarking. No sun. Lots of rain and breeze. We decided to cancel with the concierge once we boarded and just do our own thing. That morning dawned humid, warm, and sprinkling tropical rain upon our heads every few minutes.

 

Before leaving, we went up to the Haven Restaurant, which we had to ourselves. It wasn't that early! The photo timestamp is 7:34 AM. I'm stunned no one was in the restaurant, but at least we had pick of the buffet.

 

We headed off the ship which was parked next to MSC Divina. Unfortunately this is the only photo of Divina I took. Talk about a lost opportunity, but hey that's a nicely curved aft!

 

 

We migrated through the gauntlet of vendors hawking their tours to us, then security allowed us out the gate. We didn't expect to see at least one hundred cabbies offering all sorts of tours: monkeys, sloths, beaches, rum, chocolate! We could have it all! We chose none of it and wandered down Main St. in Coxen Hole. We walked down past the Welcome Plaza. After a bit, we turned around to head up Thicket Mouth Rd. just to see what was up there.

 

 

 

 

 

We wandered up Thicket Mouth Rd. and found a left hand turn that seemed to meander down a quieter area. This road was really quiet, with only a few cars coming by. A couple warned us about a water crossing coming up where we would definitely get our feet wet! There were dogs and chickens everywhere! I kept myself from adopting all the dogs.

 

 

 

Thankfully there was a small berm to the right of the water that kept us high and dry!

 

This was on the wall next to the school.

 

A school, Instituto Jose Santos Guardiola, on the unmarked road.

 

 

 

 

 

Once we finished our walk, we went back to the port to find a guide that would take us somewhere. We weren't really sure where, other than to the beach! We went back inside the secured port area, to the more carefully vetted guides. We found someone who promised they could take us and we'd be able to pay with a credit card. Let's just say one of our first stops was an ATM as they didn't actually have a CC reader. The purveyor of the guide service self-bid his tour. We started at $80 per person, then $70. We asked a couple questions (nothing about money) and suddenly were at $60, then $50! We said yes! Didn't know where we were going, but $50 per person sounded like a great price.

 

He handed us off to a guy that took us to port security. That's where we met our guide, JJ.

 

 

He was an excellent guide who gave us a canned history of the island and took us to a few highlights. We made it to the "highest point" on Roatan. I don't really believe it was. According to Google, Picacho Peak is the highest point and we were nowhere near there. We did have a nice view of Coxen Hole and the two cruise ports on the island, along with the airport.

 

 

 

As you can tell, the sun really did not want to make an appearance. It was at this point, I was more than thrilled we cancelled our planned beach excursion!

 

We continued on to the popular chocolate "factory" and rum cake stop. Roatan's must stops! I suppose it's important to support local industry, but these were both underwhelming to me. We did have a sample of chocolate! Just milk chocolate and white. We're not fans of dark chocolate. It's too healthy (and bitter).

 

 

Next up...rum cake! Yum, the samples were so good. As normal, for me, I chose to wander outside on the deck overlooking the deep ravines (canyons?). Absolutely gorgeous! It does bewilder me how they built some structures on multiple, tiny 1 x 1 foot stilts that are 100 feet tall. NO WAY!! I wouldn't be living up there. The views are fantastic, with breathtaking foliage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Onward to our final stop! We descended into the bowe

 

ls of the ravine to West End Bay and West End Beach. I was loving this sign warning Karen's away. We didn't stop, but that's my kind of place. Next time Roatan, next time!

 

 

We threw $20 per person to the Henry Morgan Beach Resort so we could have a chair on the beach and access to the beach, showers, and pool. I suppose we didn't need to pay the fee - I've heard there is public access somewhere, but this was easier.

 

 

We're glad we hit the beach and we swam for about an hour before heading over to the pool so we could swim and get rid of all the sand from the beach.

 

 

A few photos from the resort grounds...and WILDLIFE!!!!

 

 

 

 

It appears I did actually get a photo of MSC Divina...just from afar!

 

 

She was gone by the time we got back to port.

 

Roatan gave us one more reason to be grateful. The sun made an appearance, painting the clouds with its' glorious rays.

 

 

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[cruiseny4life]

We passed by some road construction in Roatan. They are changing roads over from dirt to concrete. I was able to catch these hard working gents as they bring Roatan some much needed infrastructure. Any guesses how much they make per day?

 

 

If the video's not working, here's a link to the video.

Edited April 6, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[cruiseny4life]

DELEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETE

Edited April 6, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[cruiseny4life]

Next up! Harvest Caye! What a great beach. Not really sure about the food and shopping. We walked past the stalls hawking all sorts of "made in China" souvenirs. Halfway through our day we wandered back to the ship for a Haven lunch. When in Haven, why would you have anything else, especially when it's a quick walk back?

 

 

Our day consisted of teaching a group of teens how to play volleyball, how to get lifeguards to whistle at you for not following the rules, and swimming with the fishes. And! I got to chat with a dad from Montana while his kids terrorized my husband on the floating rings. All in all, it was a wonderful day!

 

 

Unfortunately, and fortunately, I left my phone on the ship for the first half of the day. That means no photos of the shenanigans, but I was able to live in the moment which made for better memories. We went floating in the ocean for a bit, after securing our chairs with umbrella on the beach. No charge for an umbrella! I'm not sure why NCL is foregoing that income.

 

After a bit of swimming, floating, and chatting, we went back to shore for a game of volleyball. It's been three years since I played and that was on a court! Not on sand. Holy crap! I took like three diggers just trying to get to the ball as I'm a bit top heavy. It took a few minutes, but my set, bump, spike is still spot on! We had a few teens join us. We didn't know they were together as they were quiet and needed a couple pointers on how to play. They were super polite kids. We, well Montana dad, unearthed their wild side later in the day.

 

After dying in the sun for an hour playing, we went back to the water for some sweet, cool relief. We waited for one of the cool yellow ring buoys with netting to become free, then made over to it.

 

Source: https://www.waterhammockfloat.com/product-page/waterhammock?gclid=Cj0KCQjwxMmhBhDJARIsANFGOStKnfKju7Yzq68ZTTU7cjugiZwrLhSUEzu0VQ051p6OYw0bn9pjfIcaAtQdEALw_wcB

 

After ten minutes of peace, we had our four teenage friends swim over. They, and my lovely husband stayed on the float, just talking while I treaded water keeping the buoy from flipping over. I suppose others would have disliked these kids coming over, intruding, but we enjoyed listening and talking with them about their lives in NYC.

We were joined, a few minutes later, by a dad from Montana and his ten'ish year old. The dad and I talked about Montana. He was from Billings, while I had lived in Gardiner for five years (it's the north entrance to Yellowstone). We talked about the weather, oil, and his kids. Next up, his younger son, daughter and daughter's friend joined. If you're counting, that's nine people on the water hammock. Montana dad then decided to make it fun.

 

He told his oldest kid to try to flip the hammock over. Lovely! So now everyone is trying to stand up and flip the ring over. Guess who was successful? Just my husband! It helps to weigh more than everyone else on the float. And that's what the lifeguards didn't like. When you hear the whistle, just look around and see who is causing trouble. It's not us. Really! But we know who was being whistled at. 🙂

 

 

 

After an hour, or so of staying afloat, we decided it was lunch time. We'd been on the island for about three hours. We slowly wandered back along the pier to our Haven yumminess! Except I decided on the burger. Ugh. Well, I finished half of it before deciding I didn't want anymore of this blahness. The Shake Shack burger I had in the airport was about 100 times better.

 

 

Anyway, back to Harvest Caye! We went back to the beach. The far beach. We were able to claim a water hammock and lay there, enjoying the five foot waves rocking us to a light slumber. Ahh, a nice rocking sleep. It's exactly what was needed after an action packed morning!

 

 

 

Next up! More soaking, but in the giant swimming pool. We found the space under the bridge a perfect spot to people watch, see couples making out/fondling each other, and rest in the shade. And finally, at 4:30 we trudged back to the ship...sandy, salty from sweat, and thankful for a restful day playing in the water!

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[cruiseny4life]

As you can tell, we also canceled the shore excursion in Harvest Caye. We just really wanted some beach time and weren't going to get any at our next port, in Cozumel. After seeing the chocolate and rum "factories" in Roatan, we decided against the spice farm in Belize. It was paired with Mayan ruins. Well, we'd be seeing Tulum in Cozumel, so another reason to cancel. NCL probably hates us. We choose excursions, cancel excursions, choose more, then cancel more. Thank g-d for that 48 hour refund policy!

[laudergayle]

Is there additional costs on Harvest Cay?  I see umbrellas were free…what about food and beverage? Were there other activities you could do that carried a charge? Do you recommend Harvest Cay?

Edited April 9, 2023 by laudergayle

[cruiseny4life]

And! I failed to mention something I was thinking while on the cruise. We are always hearing about how "terrible" the kids are on cruises: in the Haven and outside the Haven. Given this was a spring break sailing we had a significant number of children and teens on board. I didn't see one rude young person the entire time. I know it's a little bit weird, but we even enjoyed spending time with the Montana kids and the random teens from NYC (some originally from Puerto Rico). It was a good time. They were respectful and were just enjoying themselves with the volleyball and water hammock.

 

It just reminds that the experience you have is based on your attitude. We absolutely could have said "ahh, f&c@, our time on the hammock was ruined by a bunch of rude kids." No, instead, we met them where they were. Teens enjoyed old people. Old people had a good time with teens.

We didn't even see kids crowding the staircase! We did see some running through the pool deck. The horrors of running! Maybe we all should remember what it was like to have so much energy. Ahhh, anyway, that's my somewhat awkward take on having a good time with kids that weren't our own. Maybe because my husband was a camp counselor and I was too (plus being in youth development and education in past lives).

 

Let the kids be kids. You'll be surprised if you change your attitude a bit.

[cruiseny4life]

4 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Is there additional costs on Harvest Cay?  I see umbrellas were free…what about food and beverage? Were there other activities you could do that carried a charge? Do you recommend Harvest Cay?

I'll be upfront and say I do like Great Stirrup Cay more than Harvest Caye. But, Harvest Caye was super fun! I enjoyed the tiny zoo and butterfly house they have. A few kids (obviously city slickers) were super scared of the butterflies. It was funny and sad to see them run away from butterflies. There were some colorful toucans, macaws, a boa constrictor, and iguanas in the enclosures.

 

Food and beverage are not free on Harvest Caye. NCL has a partnership with Belize to have local vendors provide food and drink, at a charge. Your ship card will not work at all on the island, unlike Great Stirrup Caye where food and beverage are covered (if you have a beverage package). I didn't like this part, which is why we went back to the Haven. Haven cruisers cheap? Yep! We are. 🙂

 

There are clam shells available, which seem better than the ones at Great Stirrup Cay as they have mesh to allow the breeze in. I don't think the ones at GSC do (could be wrong). You do have to pay for the clam shells. We didn't want one, so not sure how much. We've found that we don't enjoy clam shells. They're too stuffy, don't allow us to get sun, and hide the views. Umbrellas are perfect! And free at Harvest Caye, unlike GSC.

 

There are zip lines, snorkel tours, jet skis, parasailing, and fishing from Harvest Caye. There are other shore excursions you can take which require taking a ferry from Harvest Caye to the mainland of Belize. I think it goes to Placencia. This is where the Spice Farm and Mayan Ruins tour would have taken us. I did want to go to the mainland, but having a relaxing day was more vital to my mental health! Haha...and honestly, I'm so glad we chose to stay at Harvest Caye.

 

But hey, if you want to spend nearly a grand you can get a beach villa, away from the crowds. You can even keep the butler and concierge service...beach days and villas aren't for me as I spend as much time as possible in the water!

 

As for shopping, we noticed a few souvenir shops, a Harley Davidson store (there were a few passengers who were all about this), chocolate shop, and more. We did check out the chocolate as they offered free samples. We tried the milk chocolate and white chocolate, but it wasn't really that good. We dislike dark chocolate, so didn't bother with those samples.

 

I really appreciated the swimming pool. I did take a shower before getting in, but it didn't get all the sand off. By playing in the pool for an hour, we were able to get all the sand and salt off of us before getting back to the ship. You don't have this option at Great Stirrup Cay.

 

As for us, we didn't spend a dime and loved our time on shore. I would definitely recommend Harvest Caye! You can be as active as you want.

[laudergayle]

We’ve yet to do GSC or Harvest Cay…so I appreciate your cross-comparison.  I guess it’s time to check to check them out.  Gotta love another reason to cruise!

[cruiseny4life]

On 4/9/2023 at 2:11 PM, laudergayle said:

We’ve yet to do GSC or Harvest Cay…so I appreciate your cross-comparison.  I guess it’s time to check to check them out.  Gotta love another reason to cruise!

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Not another reason to cruise!! But hey, you're welcome! If you ever do make it to Great Stirrup Cay, be sure to walk all the way down the beach walk to the truck that offers BBQ Pork sandwiches, Mahi Mahi sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, and ceviche. It's the best food on the island! I was very unimpressed with the tacos which are on the opposite end (closer to the tender area). 

I was surprised by how good the buffet was. It's just ribs, chicken, burgers, and salads. But flame grilled burgers! I definitely enjoyed that even though it was just a NCL burger. Darn it! Now I'm hungry and want to go back to Great Stirrup Cay myself. I've got to convince someone that we need to book a cruise...for, like...tomorrow!

[cruiseny4life]

The topic of room stewards has come up often. We had a room steward that cleaned our cabin, made our bed, and emptied our trash on a daily basis. Though we were afforded twice daily service, we only took advantage of this on two or three occasions and that's because we weren't in the room. 

 

Our room steward, who I am guessing only serviced the Haven Suites (HJ) on deck 14, got to our room between 2 - 4 PM each day for the first service of the day. He would then stop by around 7 or 8 PM to ask if we needed turn down service. First, due to how late it was, and secondly, there was no need, we said no. The only thing we requested were towels from him one night as ours were sandy. 

 

Once daily service absolutely worked for us for the most part, though it was nice to have the bed made when we weren't in the room and he did this for us as we couldn't say no. 

 

In the future we'll likely half a mish mash of once a day/twice a day service. We also will likely not tip anything additional as we won't be grandfathered into the $20/daily service charge anymore. Less service equals less tips. As the lovely Demi sings, "Baby, I'm sorry (I'm not sorry)." It's too bad NCL has decided to put room attendants and guests in an awkward position.  

[laudergayle]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

I've got to convince someone that we need to book a cruise...for, like...tomorrow!

I told you before that I expect your next cruise to be June or July.  That one CN is ready to sail. 🤣

[cruiseny4life]

On 4/10/2023 at 5:01 PM, laudergayle said:

I told you before that I expect your next cruise to be June or July.  That one CN is ready to sail. 🤣

I want to. I really want to! Unfortunately, the vacation time isn't accumulating quickly enough and the husband is the HR Manager at a theme park which means summer is kinda, sorta busy for him. Like, they're putting him up in housing so he doesn't need to go home busy. Not sure how I feel about that one! I do know they have a lazy river and I get free tickets, because he works there. That means I'll be sitting my butt in a tube on that lazy river on the weekends watching him work when I'm not taking the dogs for a hike! 

 

Yup, this will be me!

 

Source: https://www.wrex.com/news/the-northern-wisconsin-dells-barron-man-creates-lazy-river-in-his-backyard/article_ba991616-2f7b-5722-9fe4-a308356e46ea.html

 

We've got the CN, plus some FCC to burn through! Alas, I think you'll have to wait just a minute before the next cruise.