Marmaduke

39 minutes ago, Bean79 said:

Who uses a gym on vacation? Just kidding, I don't believe so but I could be wrong.

    not me!!! But hubby will.

Hi again everyone, another question for you....

Do you have to go through an induction before you are allowed to use the Gym/fitness centre? 

Thank you

On 5/17/2019 at 12:21 AM, duggy_d said:

Am currently on-board Independence for the transatlantic and can confirm it reopened a few days ago.

Thanks for this duggy_d 

On 5/13/2019 at 5:48 PM, DublinFC said:

2 accidents of the same nature on the same activity (I don't think same ship) is not a good reputation to have.  I think the overall idea is great but I can see how people might shy away from it for awhile.

2 accidents? I thought there had just been one? I've obviously missed the second one.  Scary! My 2 boys are desperate to go on the skypad when we go on Indy later in the year but I think I'll be trying to dissuade them.

Help again please everyone.

I am organising things to do and places to go whilst in ports.  If the ship arrival time is 10am and I want to organise something like bike hire, what time would I be ok to arrange picking up the bikes? the bike hire shop is 300metres from the port.  

I have no idea what the protocol is for getting off the ship at ports and how long it takes as I am a newbie.

thanks again everyone.

Our cruise later in the year coincides with the rugby world cup and due to time differences it will most likely be televised around 8am or 9am ship time.  

Will the screens in playmakers be on this early in the day? 

Thanks

Following on from this post. Can you tell me if these dollar notes I've got are still legal tender.  I'm in the UK and my husband had these left over from a business trip to Houston years ago. I've just found them and want to know if they will be of any use for tipping.

Thank you all! 

Thanks to everyone for replies....a great help as always.

I will head to the casino and get change. 

Incidentally, the cruise is to celebrate my 50th birthday and I have never set foot in a casino before! I had decided that I wanted to go and pay the casino a visit and try a spot of gambling for first time in my life,  I have no idea how to play anything but I think they do some sessions onboard where I can go learn. Wish me luck

Ok.. so I will tip in dollars.

Is there anywhere on the ship I can exchange large denomination notes for smaller ones? I am struggling to find and exchange bureaux that will give me small denominations such as 1 dollar notes or 5 dollar ones.  (Is it 1 dollar notes or coins?)

Hi all,

We are sailing on Indy later in the year from the UK. We have prepaid our gratuities but I want to take cash with me to tip staff as I feel necessary. Do I still tip in dollars? Or euro's? 

Also, I may struggle to find an exchange bureau that will give be small denominations, is there anywhere on the ship that I can go and get say 100 dollars exchanged into maybe some 5 dollar notes or 1 dollar or 2 dollar denominations? 

Thanks for any advice.

First time cruiser with a dumb question...so I apologise...but do you pay extra for this special lobster night? And do you know if this is available on Europe sailings ?

I am Indy. Thanks for the help.

22 hours ago, GA Cruiser said:

Depending on the ship you are on, you can purchase the WOW band for $5.  It can be used for everything the sea pass can, except getting on and off the ship.  It is worn on the wrist like a watch.  It is waterproof and can be reprogrammed on future cruises.  We have used them twice on Harmony and plan to reuse them again on Symphony next year.

We are going on our first cruise later this year and these WOW bands sound good. Any idea if we can get them for the kids too? Where do we purchase them? Customer services? 

Hi all, 

Travelling on Indy later in the year.  Can anyone tell me about the Sport Court Activities please.  Are the games/activities organised by RC or is it a case of turning up and trying to organise a game of something with other cruisers?  Also, our 2 sons ages 11 and 10 are very sporty and would enjoy taking part in any games on the sports court, again....are there any organised sports/games on the court for them or is it mainly for adults.

many thanks

Can anyone give me a rough idea of the cost to get a bag of laundry done please.  If it's a rip off then I'll just pack more and not bother using the laundry service. 

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice. Great help! 

Hi all,

First time cruisers and wondering what the story is with MDR seating. We booked through a travel agent and they suggested and booked "anytime dining" (Think that's what it was called?).  We have 2 boys aged 10 and 11 so the early dining time will suit us. 

My question is in regard to the seating.  Will we be able to get a table just for the 4 of us or will we be on large tables?

It's not that we are anti social but it is likely that our boys will eat and head to the kids club and myself and hubby will get peace to enjoy our meal on our own.

We get no time on our own at home and it would be heavenly to be able to sit and have our meals without the kids every night. 

Is this possible or will we more than likely be at a large table?

Thanks everyone

Thanks for the reply.  We were thinking of prebooking the hibachi experience dinner and also the chefs table.  I think when we book these 2 dining experiences on cruise planner we have to choose a date and time. 

Is there any "pattern" for the main shows? I.e, do they tend to be on certain nights? We are on an 11 night cruise.

Hello all,

Am I right in thinking I won't be able to reserve seats for the main shows on our cruise later in the year on Indy? I've been reading posts on this site for months now and it seems that you can't prebook shows on certain ships?

I want to book some speciaility restaurants but I'm worried I book the dining for nights when the main shows will be on.  But I'm thinking I won't know when the shows are going to be on until I'm onboard, suggestions please all you experienced cruisers.

BTW This site is BRILLIANT. 

3 hours ago, tiny260 said:

+1 for under the bed. If the size of the suite case allows you can slide them under the bed open and use them as another drawer/storage area, IE., stuff you might not use very often or dirty close hamper.

This a brilliant idea!!

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR REPLYING...THATS ONE MORE QUESTION OFF MY LIST

Ah...Great idea about stacking them! Thanks 

Hi all, looking forward to our first cruise later this year and especially looking forward to no airports and no lugging suitcases for hours!

We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids) with a spacious ocean view balcony stateroom on Indy.  I've just had a thought about where our suitcases can be stored once they are unpacked? 

I had dreams of us turning up with a nice big suitcase each (instead of our usual where we Try and squeeze everything into 2) but looking at the pictures of our stateroom online I'm concerned there won't be anywhere in room to store them.

Thanks for the very detailed and informative replies, I will pass all the advice onto hubby... thanks again!

22 hours ago, bcarney said:

I'm a "DXer" which is basically a hobby of hunting down and logging radio stations. Yes, I am a nerd/geek.

There is a lot of noise (QRN) generated by the ship and the electronics on it, but if your hubby is really into it he can go topside and find a location that is a little less noisy, like the front of the ship or the helicopter deck.  

A lot of the comments above say you really can't hear anything, but it's not true, especially in the southern Caribbean.  And if he switches from FM to AM, you can hear stations all over the Caribbean while onboard, especially at night.

I brought my SDR (software defined radio - think a device like a DVR or TiVO, only for radio, and it can record the entire AM radio band at once) and let it record all day while I was in port.  It gave me a lot of joy after the cruise listening to the recordings and being able to listen to every station broadcasting at that port was fascinating.

Barring that, he can use http://radio.garden/ and listen to streaming stations around the world. 

Hi there, it was for cabin use only!!