nova_gal

Hoping that both Baltimore and Bermuda are open for business in time for our May 9 Grandeur sailing to happen.

Carbs don't count on cruises....calories, sugar, nothing....

@FManke Breakfast appetizers. I love it!

@ameblas I was in the same boat as you. Having learned a ton from reading all the advice on this forum, I contacted my travel agent who upgraded my oceanview balcony room to a junior suite for no upcharge. Very happy!

To @SteveinSC and everyone on this blog - thank you for all of the wonderful tips!! I would have never considered ordering the free continental breakfast room service, but breakfast appetizers, here I come!

Because toilet paper is the cure for Covid-19. No, wait, it prevents coughing.  No, wait.....

To @SteveinSC and everyone on this blog - thank you for all of the wonderful tips!! I would have never considered ordering the free continental breakfast room service, but breakfast appetizers, here I come!

To @SteveinSC and everyone on this blog - thank you for all of the wonderful tips!! I would have never considered ordering the free continental breakfast room service, but breakfast appetizers, here I come!

To @SteveinSC and everyone on this blog - thank you for all of the wonderful tips!! I would have never considered ordering the free continental breakfast room service, but breakfast appetizers, here I come!

@nova_gal I posses no ORIGINAL wisdom in regards to cruising. Im preparing to take my 6th cruise a month from today, and this will be my 1st after having discovered this forum/message board.  IT WAS A GAME CHANGER and I cant tell you how prepared I feel for my cruise. I, now, feel like I did every previous cruise by the seat of my pants, and cruised like a savage. It never occurred to me to have the continental breakfast appetizers every morning, either. But once I read about it on here.....BOOM. Done. The people here are amazing, and I too am eternally grateful for them. 

Continental breakfast appetizers are the best part of a balcony room! leisurely enjoying a cup of coffee still in my PJs on the balcony - the very definition of vacation!

I feel it's a perfect substitute for an alarm or a standard wake-up call!  Room service calls the room minutes before they show up with the food.

To @SteveinSC and everyone on this blog - thank you for all of the wonderful tips!! I would have never considered ordering the free continental breakfast room service, but breakfast appetizers, here I come!

Thanks for your post! I remember when I first booked the beach bed that 2 loungers were included because we're a family of 3 and the loungers would have provided extra seating. I guess now we'll be extra close. That's what family is for, right?! ?

Remember that continental breakfast through room service is free. Its a great way to grab a quick breakfast or as we like to do, have some fruit, coffee and such delivered earlier in the morning to have as you get ready for the day, even if we are planning a later breakfast, we often get something early to start the day. We like to think of this as breakfast "appetizers."
Happy cruising!

I know catchy title but the worst happened this week. I have a cruise for this Sunday, 8 March 2020 on Oasis of the Seas. We booked this cruise a year and half ago and was really looking forward to it. I woke up Tuesday morning with the room spinning out of control and feeling very nauseous. I knew that feeling, it was the flu. Knowing I couldn’t just ride it out I had to go to the doctors and get a note indicating my status to inform RCI.  Under the rules I had to be 14 days well to sail and I was well within that window.  
So off I went to the walk-in clinic where they jabbed a cotton swab so far up my nose I thought they were hitting brain. Nurse puts it in a container and says I will be back in 10 minutes to let you know the results. PA walks in next and says what I already suspected- Influenza Type A....UGH! There goes the trip. At this point I send an email to @michelle at MEI to let her know what was going on. 
Michelle let us know our options - Go to insurance (always get insurance people) and get the money back or she would TRY and rebook us but no promises. She had me choose 3 cruises by priority and she would give them a call. This morning I woke up to a new cruise in December 2020 and all the previous items for the Oasis cruise will be refunded and the cruise money itself will transfer over to new cruise. I just have to replan the cruise for what we want to do. I love doing that already so I’ll have fun doing a new cruise planner. 
I found about MEI from this blog, as I have never had an agent before, and this is a classic case of why they are so important. I have learned so much from this site so thanks to @Matt for starting this blog forum. 
Plug for Michelle - she did an awesome job in a very short amount of time and I am so thankful for her help. If you ever thought of an agent but said no, I could do it myself, think again...I would still be on the phone with the flu trying to fix this mess. Instead I was home in bed taking Tamiflu and getting rid of this flu without having to rebook or fight the insurance for a refund!
Thanks again and maybe this thread can help someone else in the future if the worst happens to you pre-cruise week. 
 
Oh BTW - someone should be getting a Royal-up for Junior Suite 12636 soon since I had to cancel. And, I did have a flu shot this year so It didn’t work so well. 
 
 
 

They did not give access codes last time in December, it’s all online once onboard now, It tells you if you’ve prepaid for a package and then make a username and password 

@KristiZ Ahh, thank you!  I got confused when the cruise planner asks you to choose guests and I was misinterpreting it as who would be using the internet. Thanks for the clarification. 

@KristiZ Ahh, thank you!  I got confused when the cruise planner asks you to choose guests and I was misinterpreting it as who would be using the internet. Thanks for the clarification. 

This ? 

I love cruising because once we get on the ship there's really nothing I have to do like cooking and cleaning on other vacations. I wish I would have discovered this type vacation when the kids were younger and vacations seemed like almost as much work just in another location. I also love the uninterrupted time that cruising gives my husband and I together.
 
Because we live in Florida I still enjoy the affordability and ease of  Caribbean cruises but if I could go anywhere on a cruise it'd be Scotland and Ireland.
 
Great fun question!

1. Getting pampered with good food that I didn't cook, no dishes to clean & put away, experiencing new cultures
2. Alaska, river cruising in South America!

Literally. Love that IT.

Yes... once you start booking those short cruises to hold you over until your next cruise, you know you've gone too far. Have a great trip!

Thanks for all of your input. Obviously the refreshment package offers more and since this is our first RC cruise, we’ll keep that to get the most enjoyment and cancel the others. Thanks for being a sounding board!