Went on a Disney cruise when my daughter was little. While at sea she lost a tooth and was distraught because she thought the tooth fairy wouldn't be able to find her. I went to guest services and told them, asking if they could help me out. They told me they absolutely could. When we got back to our room that evening there was a card on her pillow from Tinkerbell, stating that she had sprinkled a path of fairy dust over the ocean for the tooth fairy to find. In the card there was a handful of glitter, some chocolates and a button with an image of the Cheshire Cat grinning with a missing tooth, saying "I lost a tooth on the Disney Cruise!". I was blown away! They are 100% prepared for EVERYTHING!! Disney magic is real. 🤯❤
Disney is the best especially at taking care advice kids. It’s all about that Disney Magic! My son was afraid to sleep on the upper bunk when he was young and we mentioned it to the cabin steward. When we got back to the room after the show the bed was full of stuffed Disney characters and a card from Tinkerbell saying “I sent over some of my friends to keep you company and safe.
On our first Disney cruise, my son needed medication and usually took it with applesauce at dinner. They had none. They checked a few places with none available. I told them not to worry about it and that we’d try ice cream and grab something from the buffet for the remainder of the days. About 10 minutes later, the head chef came over with a bowl of applesauce. He had made it from an apple. There was one waiting each night for my son. ❤
I had $120 fall out of my pocket on the way to an excursion. I knew no one would turn it in so I didn’t bother, for a couple days, to call guest services. My spouse encouraged me to just call and ask so I did. It was amazing that someone turned in the money!! I was so shocked. The lady at guest services said “ wow it was even turned in by a fellow passenger!” She was as shocked as I was. She had the name and cabin number of the person that turned it in. We found this sweet older lady and gave her $25 for turning it in. She did not want to take it but I insisted. It was wonderful and encouraging to find out there are good, honest people still around😊
Sometimes it's nice if Guest Services isn't busy when walking by just to stop and say you're having a great cruise or to say thank you if a problem has been solved. It always seems to bring a smile to their faces.
I work in guest services at a resort and this is very true!! We’re often ambushed by issues or complaints or misunderstandings and it’s so nice to hear from happy guests as well and/or when things have been resolved for them.
I had a great day experience with someone from guest services. I asked to speak with her supervisor. She was so touched that she was practically in tears. She told me that she just recently got married to somebody that worked in the main dining room kitchen staff and couldn't wait to tell him after shift. I felt good about what I did😊
We need to polite to all staff!!!! On a cruise or not!!!! It is a good habit. Recently was mailing a package and the line was out the door!!! When I got to the front I thanked the young man for coming to to work that day. He was the only person working in the busy ups store!!!
When we began moving our clothes into our cabin closet, it was very clear that a previous guest was a heavy smoker whose clothes carried a heavy smoke odor that permeated the closet interior. I'm very sensitive to smoke and I knew my clothes would absorb the smell and make for a miserable trip. I asked our cabin attendant if they had some kind of spray I could use to help remove the odor before my clothes absorbed that smell. We left for dinner. By the time we returned, the closet had been well taken care of, not a hint of smoke smell anywhere. I was able to unpack and enjoy a smoke-free vacation. I was beyond thankful.
This is a unique one, but on one cruise I went on (Carnival), one of the guests forgot to bring hearing aid batteries and guest services asked if anyone else had some and I packed extra and so I shared them. Guest services was really grateful that I was willing to help that they sent chocolate covered strawberries to our room and bought us drinks. For even unusual things, I’ve found that guest services really does try to go above and beyond to help.
I broke the base off my lightweight mobility scooter going out to promenade deck on a ship, it was the base where the battery layed on. Thought my holiday was over. Made it back to the room and my wife spoke to the room steward. An engineer arrived shortly after, took my scooter away, returned it a few hours later patched up with some sort off fibre glass wrap which was so good, never replaced it when i got home. There are so many talented people who work on cruise ships, you just need to ask.
Loved the information. On my last cruise on the Crown Princess I received an emergency message from a friend who was at the Vet with my very elderly dog (18 years old). The Vet needed to speak to me and we were unable to connect. A quick call to Guest Services and they placed a call to the Vet then transferred it to our cabin phone. I was able to authorize the Vet to do what needed to be done and she ended up passing away later that morning. I was so grateful and Guest Services not only did this for us there was no charge. Totally above and beyond❤
On one RCCL cruise, we were packing to go home and my husband couldn't find his car keys (we live in Florida and drive to the port). He went to Guest Services once and they said they didn't have them. After a lot of panic and a lot of looking, I told him to check again with Guest Services. He spoke to a different person and she found them. We figured out that , when we gave our bags to the porter on Day 1, they must have fallen when my husband went to slip them in a pocket on his backpack. One of the porters must have noticed them later and turned them in. Boy, were we relieved (and very lucky)!
A wheel on my mother in law's wheelchair broke. We asked guest services if they had an extra wheelchair we could borrow. They did have one we could use and they sent a crew member from the mechanic shop to our room and fixed the wheelchair. We were so grateful
While on Pride Of American in Honolulu, my wife and I were playing cards with our own worn out deck and a woman from guest services came over and gave us two new decks of cards with the Norwegian logo. Really surprised us. Nice touch!
On Celebrity, my spouse wanted to propose me to marriage during our cruise. He went to guest relations on day one and they were more than happy to help. They managed to arrange a meeting with the Cruise Director and they set the surprise up in the Main Dining Room (it was on the Eclipse) and the Maître D’ and one of their duets were involved as well. So my oblivious self had a wonderful proposal at cruise and the first thing we did afterwards was going at the guest relations desk ans thanking them.
In regards to the Disembarkation tags. I always take some return address labels from home to use. It prevents having to print out all that information by hand.
Yes, that was me with the earplugs on Celebrity cruise lines! My husband forgot his CPAP the most important thing that you shouldn’t forget and I talked to my cabinet Steward and she asked me how my trip was going. I said well great but I can’t sleep because my husband forgot his CPAP machine and she said go to guest services and they’ll give you earplugs. Cruise was saved and I’m still married.😅
We were on a celebrity cruise and a fellow passenger and my husband were talking . The passenger accidently spilled his red wine all over my husband's new shirt. I called huess services to see about cleaning it. They came and got it,cleaned it and delivered it back the next day. It looked like new and they called to see if it looked good. Great sercice😊
You do a great job of engaging your audience by asking for their experiences. I enjoy your videos. Thank you for sharing. Nicely done. Regards from SW Florida.
It's always best to be kind and polite to people - it's been my experience that they will be much more willing to help you if you treat them with decency and respect. I had to ask Guest Services on our last (Disney - love Disney cruises so much!) if I could cancel an excursion scheduled for the next day because of an ankle issue I had had to see the onboard nurse about (didn't realize that it was actually broken). I told him up front that I would understand if the answer was no. He said he would look into it and then came to me at dinner (!) to say that my excursion had been refunded. I was blown away. Could have hugged the guy!
My wife went on her first cruise with me (I had been on 3 cruises years before). She wanted to have a speciality seafood dinner. However l do not eat seafood but I was informed to bring my food from the buffet. We informed ahead of time only my wife would be charged $40 for her dinner. Later l checked our bill online and we were charged $80. My wife telephoned Guest Services to remove the extra charge. A day later the charge was removed. I do like the suggestion that one may have a speciality dinner and have the other person not pay and not his wife dine alone.
I install hotel locks for a living. If your card has a magnetic stripe, you can punch a hole in it. If your card is the "tap" type (RFID), do NOT punch a hole in it. RFID cards contain a microchip and a spiral antenna that you will most-likely damage, rendering the card useless.
Another reason to ask guest services for help. They will have someone figure out how to how to attach a lanyard while maintaining the card’s functionality.
story from a cruise director on our cruise. Line at Guest Services and couple at head of line asked what time was the midnight buffet. After being told it was at midnight, seven other people got out of line.
I had an Aft Excel suite on Carnival Celebration, on the second day of the cruise the suite became very hot and humid, the air conditioning stopped working. Guest services immediately sent a representative who had a fancy thermostat with her. She took the temp then placed a call. 10 minutes later two engineers arrived and began working on the air conditioning units (there were two separate units). Everything was fixed within the hour!
I have posted before about the extra help we have been given, so I won't repeat myself. The best advice is, if you have a problem ask for help. Can't hurt! I'm reminded of one instance on Holland America years ago. We like to eat in the dining room as we enjoy the leisurely and quiet atmosphere. Occasionally there would be a cheese option for dessert. After a few days I asked our waiter if there was any Edam cheese on the ship, as I particularly like it. Dutch ship should have Dutch cheese. After that every night as we left the dining room he handed me a little foil basket of Edam cheese and crackers for a midnight snack! Another time on Princess my husband liked the onion soup so much he asked if he could have it every night. Several times during our cruise I heard people asking the waiter, "Why can't I have onion soup like he has?"
Thank you for this video! After watching it I emailed my travel agent. She called the cruise line and said they will have a medical fridge for my kids medication, cords for the c-pap, and no down feathers (a few of us are allergic). I had no idea I could ask for those things. Thanks so much!
On my first cruise I noticed the lamp just above my bed was flickering terribly. I reported that to the guest relations desk and even before I was done talking the agent contacted the maintainance team to have that fixed. Before I made it back to my cabin they had that already sorted out. Impressive.
Royal Caribbean had a way to request an extension cord and distilled water for my CPAP before the cruise. They were in the cabin when we arrived. Kudos!
It is surprising to discover all the different things that can be done by the cruise personnel. When we were on a Princess cruise to Alaska last year, we were asked if we could vacate our cabin for a couple of hours so they could replace the carpet! I’m not sure how they accomplished this with all the furniture (we had a mini suite) but when we returned to our cabin we had brand new carpet!
We pretty much always travel on DCL and I’ve asked for many different types of pillows from Memory Foam to an ultra soft pillow and they always say that they will see what they can do, but they have always managed to find the perfect pillow for me. 😍
Not just guest services the whole events team at RC are totally incredible!!! The helped me plan the perfect engagement to my fiancee on her first cruise on the very bow of the Anthem of the Seas. However, once onboard I still need to speak with them often because the proposal is going to be in a restricted area I needed approval from so many people from the captain, first officer, chief of security, and several other people I never meet, lol. She did say yes on the very bow of the ship in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We area getting married this December at Sandals Royal Barbados.
I went on my first cruise this past week and absolutely loved it. I went on the ncl gem out of Boston and as someone who lives in New England, it was a nice and easy way to try my first cruise. I absolutely loved it. One thing that’s well worth it on ncl is the mandara spa pass it was around $200 for the whole week and definitely was well worth it.
Love the Gem that was my first cruise ship as well a few years ago. I'm glad you had a good time. NCL Gem is the perfect sized ship for someone's first cruise.
On my 1st cruise my luggage was very late getting to my cabin, I went to guest services to inquire about the delay, they were very apologetic and gave me 2 toiletry kits and 2 free cruise line tshirts.(RC)
Many years ago, when in my 20's, we would stay up late and "borrow" a lounge chair for our balcony. The last time we did that was our first Celebrity cruise in the early 2000's. When our cabin steward saw it out there, he said we could have just asked and they would have brought one.
I popped out to my room's balcony to take a picture of Port; My balcony door slammed shut behind me, and the lever went into the down/locked position!.... I used the Crew Chat Guest Services for rescue!
On a recent cruise, my husbands eyeglasses were not very straight. We went to guess services and a super nice person called someone from the back office and he fixed the screw on the glasses. Another time we didn’t have enough hot water in shower and someone came very quickly and fixed it.
Others advise that if you have a cabin issue (not moving cabins), but like a light out, chairs needed, bed issue, cord for C-Pap, etc. talk with your cabin steward. If each traveler does that, instead of all going to guest services, the steward can come through and less cruisers in line at guest services. - If you are offered something from Guest Services (like a cruise credit), get it in writing before you leave the ship.
While on a cruise in April this year, my husband's mother passed away. Before passing away, guest services arranged a ship to shore phone call that allowed my husband to call her--we were in the middle of the Atlantic on a transatlantic crossing. No charge. They were super nice to him.
Guest Services is also Lost and Found. I had RX sunglasses fall from my pocket and after a day they were at Guest Services. They had a box full of them.
I left my camera at one of the game shows. A crew member found it and turned it into guest services. I needed to prove it was mine. I had a photo of myself already taken, and that was good ID.
⭐ on MSC I got earplugs. My assigned cabin was a handicap wheelchair cabin on deck 5. It was under the theater stage on deck 6. During rehearsal on embarkation day, my walls were vibrating from the heavy bass. They gave me earplugs at first. The next morning they moved me to a handicap cabin on deck 11
Your best tip, and it's also the key to getting along in the world, is to be polite. We should all strive to put our best foot forward in interacting with others. One can easily make someone's day by doing so and, in turn, enriching one's own life.
I took a group on a Carnival cruise (Carnival Firenze) in June of 2023. Everyone did not go into the app to select a debarkation time, so we had a bunch of our group members stuck in the last group. I had prescheduled a shuttle to get the group to the airport and needed to reach the shuttle company the evening before the debarkation. The rep at guest services allowed me to use a ship phone to make that call. It was a life saver!!
My mom started bringing travel fans years ago. And now we have some that are so much lighter but charge with a usb c adapter. So when our phone is done we can charge those up. She always brings two knowing I’ll need one along the way. Plus you can use on the plane or the hotel room before and after the cruise. Couldn’t travel without those
Two or three different times on a cruise (most likely Princess) I have put my cellphone or Kindle down somewhere and left it behind in a public area or even once in the public bathroom. Luckily, they were turned in to the staff and wound up so I could pick it up at guest services. They gave me a form and asked some security questions to make sure it was my phone (and I wasn't just trying to steal one) and they had me unlock it where they could see it. Thank you to the staff or cruisers who turned it in and to guest services for facilitating its return to me (more then once). Frankly, I was feeling pretty stupid for doing this but the friendly staff went the extra mile and told me it happens more often than anyone would believe. Who would have thought we cruisers could be such an absent-minded bunch!
We were on a ship many years ago and the A/C wasn't working. We complained about it and Maintenance assured us they fixed it. They did not.They also told us they were sailing full and could not get us another cabin. It was sweltering in that cabin. I went down to Guest Services AGAIN (my husband had been there already) and they assured me it was working. So, I asked if one of the customer service reps could come with me to the cabin and check it out. She walked in the door and was appalled. So, they magically came up with another cabin for us! It never hurts to ask.
We filled out a form before disembarking once and mentioned we didn’t have a pen to do it and had to ask a friend for one. Upon disembarking we received a package from Guest Services that had 2 pens and 2 beautiful Princess journals in it. That was going above and beyond! Loved it.
On Viking several years ago, there was an annoying metal on metal sound. Turned out there was a metal rod rolling around on a tender that was located above us. Guest Services went out of their way to find the noise (engineering did).
Happy Sunday llana hope you have a lovely day enjoying the sunshine 🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺
I am looking forward to our first cruise in August '25! I really appreciate your videos! I feel somewhat prepared on what to expect. Thank you for all of the information and ideas!
Ask about free or dscounted cabin upgrades right aftee boarding. Due to cancelations or underbooked cruises upgrades are sometimes are available for those who ask. If you are musician you can arrange to perform in a show, or in a pub or restaraunt, sometimes getting a free drink or perk in doing so. On another Christmas cruise myself and my daughters were able to arrange extra ice time other than public skating time to practice figure skating with skating show performers during their open ice practice ice times. This was done by simply asking guest services who made it happen. Another perk to check for if any spots are available to have dinner at the captains table. There is usually an upgraded menu & sometimes a free drink or glass of wine for these captains dinners. On longer cruises there are usually two or more of these captains dinners. Even if the captains dinner guest list is full, you can ask to be put on awaiting list if some one is is unable to make it and cancels their captains table reservation. Check availability when you book your cruise & again ASAP after you board.
On a HAL cruise, my roommate got water and extension cord for their cpap machine. They asked for both before embarkation day. They also requested the “egg-crate” style mattress topper.
My husband and I just returned from Bermuda, sailing on NCL Joy. We had a wonderful cruise! We did ask for playing cards at Guest Services. We actually checked back there a few times to see if we could get some. Each time we asked, the customer reps gave each other the strangest looks, as if they had cards but perhaps we're instructed not to give them out?!? On day 4, we passed through the casino only to observe that playing cards, used playing cards no less, were for sale for purchase. Next time I'll bring my own. I think a complimentary deck of cards is not a lot to ask. My playing cards are from Dollar Tree. Two decks for $1.25 U.S.
Our Princess ship, had a small library...there were books as well as lots of games AND playing cards (new!) for guests to enjoy on the saiing...free...
We like to buy the used cards from the casino has a souvenir. They are usually $1 a deck. They haven't been available on Princess or RCCL since the pandemic.
We spent a 3 days cruise on Liberty of the Seas without hot water in our cabin. We asked someone to check/ repair it and he was obviously not able to do so. It was a long 3 days with cold water. I will never take that ship again.
We were at the end of a hallway by the crew door. It opened and slammed shut multiple times per night. By the third night of not sleeping I was a mess. My husband went to guest services and asked if they could do something about it. They fixed it that day so the door slow closed-- wish we had asked earlier.
My sister loves collecting pens from places she has been! Asked our NCL room steward for a pen and he did leave her a NCL Haven pen! lol We were not in Haven but showed our steward our appreciation with an extra tip!
I had no idea that you could get (possibly) all those things at guest service! I have a CPAP so I will ask for distilled water, but I really had never thought of the other items. I like to just walk by when it’s not busy and thank them because I’m sure a lot of people demand things and don’t thank them. Great post!
My first and third cruise was on the same ship. My 1st cruise I requested distilled water and received it for free. The 3rd cruise I had to pay for it. Carnival Pride
If you want quick and attentive customer service, head down there after 11 pm. They are generally very bored andbwill take the time to answer any questions about the shop or the ports. They will tell you current exchange rate in the ports as well as where to find the best WiFi.
I took my second cruise on Royal Caribbean almost 20 years after the first one. Of course I could not remember the details when booking. Guest services was able to trace my 2003 cruise and add it to my account for loyalty points. On an Azamara cruise around Iceland, the sea got a little rough as we were in Arctic waters. Guest services invited everyone to drop by for a bottomless supply of ginger candies, which genuinely helped!
I never would have thought to ask for a fan, mini ship map, or to remove furniture. Great tips! We had a really bad experience on our last cruise with guest services being a complete joke on Norwegian. The toilet in our cabin didn't work half the time and they couldn't fix it and couldn't move us because the ship was overbooked. There were a lot of things wrong with that cruise, but that was one of the worst parts. I'm glad to hear that other cruise lines are going above and beyond for their guests!
@@LifeWellCruised We called guest services 3 or 4 times over the course of the 7 day cruise, but they weren't able to fix it. It was SO frustrating. Suffice it to say that we will not be cruising with Norwegian again.
We had three in our mini suite and we did ask for a third chair for the balcony and got it. I did travel with a friend who needed hypoallergenic sheets and got them. I have mailed cards from cruise ships but it was back in the 70s early 80s, glad to hear you can still do it! Wow Illana good information for the ships art print out.🚢🙂
This post is really about my experiences with the FOS I just came off of Sunday. I would post it on your review from a few weeks ago, but you might not see it. Well, you were definitely right about that Ice Skating Extravaganza in Studio B. That just blew me away. Totally Awesome. And that Once Upon a Time show was equally as fantastic. You really get some bang for your buck on such a short three night cruise. It was something seeing all the different locations you mentioned. Some of them were just little areas. Like Loco Fresh or whatever it's called. Didn't realize it was just a long countertop near the pool. I just grabbed some chopped meat there on the first day. Boleros too was just a grooved out section on the 4th deck. And yes, it extended to the other side. Some Latins were playing their version of Mah Jong there. Forgot what it was called. Just passed the Schnooner bag a few times. If I drank a bit more I might has sat there by the piano bar. Never ate anything at forgot the name of the place where Starbuck's was. I thought Sorrento's pizza stunk really. We ate dinner the eight of us on the 5th floor of the Main Dining Room every night. Staff was excellent. The game shows were a lot of fun but not as good as the shows on NCL. I tried the Flowrider twice and I stunk. Couldn't get to the on the knees part. I found out from googling they have flow riders on land like at Margaritaville on Hollywood Beach although it's kind of expensive. Really want to practice and get better. I don't see the Oasis class being that much better. Except for maybe bumper cars. LOL. I don't think Studio B had that during the day? Never made it there. One other thing I like better on The Escape was O ' Sheehans. Much better option for late night snacking. Oh Well. Enough for Now. If you like this video.... Oh wait. Ta ta. Never did see Lime and Coconut. At least I don't think so.
I've mailed lots of postcards from cruise ships. They may take a month to get to their destinations, but you can do it. Most of them have stamps. They probably won't be able to get stamps for you if you're repositioning across an ocean though.
check if your ship has a library. On a recent Princess cruise there were all types of games in the library as well as printed Sudokos (with answers printed on the back), enough for 3 weeks.
On a recent HAL solar eclipse cruise I had a roommate that snores very loudly. I lost an earplug. I told my room stewards, thinking I meant that I lost an earbud, they searched high and low and even took apart their vacuum to see if perhaps it had been sucked up. When I showed them my matching foam earplug. They advised me that they actually did find it had been vacuumed up. 5 minutes later I had a knock at my door, Jojo handed me a baggy full of foam earplugs! I also asked them for a mattress topper and they put one on my bed super fast. I found my rom stewards to be much more helpful than GS was if I’m honest.
We had a very noisy cabin. I put up with it for several days. My husband couldn’t hear the noises when he took off his hearing aids. I finally complained and they provided ear plugs on HAL. It was a nice cabin near guest services except we could hear the anchor drop and the thrusters.
The cord for my husband's electric wheelchair charger wasn't working and our cabin steward got us a new one and just exchanged for our broken one as we were not going straight home after our cruise. So very kind of them to do this for us.
Is there anything different I should pack for a cruise to Hawaii, we have done lots of Caribbean cruises and always listen to your videos months before our cruises.
My wife and I were on a Princess cruise (LOVE Princess! We sailed over 20 times with them). Due to my wife's medical issues, we would always get a cabin in the back near the elevator so that it would be a short trip to the food. On this particular cruise, we had an issue with the shower's water temp. No matter how much you turn the knob, the water was scalding hot to the point that I couldn't get in. I called GS, and within 30 minutes, a rather large fellow with a toolbox was at the door. He checked the temp, fiddled with the knob, then proclaimed that there was nothing that could be done as we were too close to the engines and that was causing the water to be hot. I glanced in the mirror to see if the word "IDIOT" was written on my forehead, it wasn't, but I knew it would be pointless to argue with him. I called GS again to request a different cabin, but the ship was full. I ended up getting a bucket from our very apologetic steward and just filled it, let it cool, and then bathed that way. I've had minor complaints with Princess in the past, but they were usually cleared up right away. What surprised me is that GS did nothing to compensate me for this. My wife was fine with it, she loved hot showers. That's my rant, 1 disappointing cruise out of 20+ pleasurable ones.
My husband and I recently cruised on Norwegian Spirit and were able to get free decks of cards from guest services. They were used decks from the casino.
Many of the things we now carry on cruises were added as a result of issues we had on prior cruises. One time my wife brought a gown with sequins, and many of the sequins had broken loose during our travel. Since the gown was in a garment bag the sequins weren't lost. So we asked for glue, and actually one of the crew loaned us a bottle of glue and we repaired the gown. Guess what we've since added to our cruise packing list ? Yep - glue! As for fans, I carry 2 rechargeable desktop fans mostly on the off chance that there is a problem with the hvac system (such as loss of power). Otherwise we've never had an issue with the staterooms feeling stuffy. In our experience if guest services cannot resolve a problem they can probably find the people who can.
Thank you for this video. We are blessed that we have not need to use any of the suggestions. Viewing your videos help us get ready on every cruises we have taken. Any special suggestions for Japan cruises?
so my daughter needed (sorry for TMI) tampons. none in the gift shop. they charged us a ton for old fashion tampons. I was shocked. bring back up ladies.
@@gloriacastillo2898 have you never forgotten something when packing for vacation? Also, not everyone has timely periods. One or two emergency tampons in a purse don't help when you're away from readily available personal care products. My point is this is something the cruise line shouldn't feel the need to gouge their customers with.
@@SEK-COJO_inmyheart I am sorry to hear that your daughter incurred a hefty fee for these items, BUT I do disagree with you about personal items such as these should be free of charge. Somewhere along the line everyone will be paying for the 'freebies' and I don't feel that it would be fair to those who never need them - men, nor is it fair to the women who no longer end them. Always remember that It Is the responsibility of every person to pack their personal items, even those of a just in case situation.
Celebrity gives out decks of cards at guest services but they no longer have Celebrity on them. I have a couple packs at home with Celebrity on them. A nice little free souvenir from years ago.😊
Howdy llana, Already subscribed and hit the like button. Never heard of anyone that got ear plugs from guest services. Carnival and Holland America has been especially helpful.
On my 1st cruise on RCL, I didn’t know about Guest Services for Dramamine. Pretty much everyone was sick, I was the only customer. I told her about seeing a doctor (yes, I was young), and I was not rude. She was rude, and just slap the pills down without a word. That was my last cruise on RCL. Yes, manners help retain customers.
On our recent HAL cruise in the Mediterranean they had scales near the elevators on every floor. I used it to weigh myself. Shocked to find I had put on 5kg! Now in the process of getting that off before my next cruise in December
Our travel agent gifted us a bottle of really nice wine, so nice that we bought another bottle. A daily check of charges showed that both bottles had been charged to our account. Princess guest services adjusted and removed the extra bottle charge. This without the chit from the travel agent (which we still had but not right then).
On embarkation day, I always ask our stateroom attendants for 12-15 additional hangers, as there are never enough hangers for 2 people. They are always able to accommodate - which are usually plastic and absolutely fine!!!
Went on a Disney cruise when my daughter was little. While at sea she lost a tooth and was distraught because she thought the tooth fairy wouldn't be able to find her. I went to guest services and told them, asking if they could help me out. They told me they absolutely could. When we got back to our room that evening there was a card on her pillow from Tinkerbell, stating that she had sprinkled a path of fairy dust over the ocean for the tooth fairy to find. In the card there was a handful of glitter, some chocolates and a button with an image of the Cheshire Cat grinning with a missing tooth, saying "I lost a tooth on the Disney Cruise!". I was blown away! They are 100% prepared for EVERYTHING!! Disney magic is real. 🤯❤
Disney is the best especially at taking care advice kids.
It’s all about that Disney Magic!
My son was afraid to sleep on the upper bunk when he was young and we mentioned it to the cabin steward.
When we got back to the room after the show the bed was full of stuffed Disney characters and a card from Tinkerbell saying “I sent over some of my friends to keep you company and safe.
Wow!
Wow that's why I enjoy cruising so much. The staff give you the best customer service you'll ever receive. They make you never want to go back home 😂
What a wonderful experience for the child who lost a tooth and the child who was afraid of the bunk. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
On our first Disney cruise, my son needed medication and usually took it with applesauce at dinner. They had none. They checked a few places with none available. I told them not to worry about it and that we’d try ice cream and grab something from the buffet for the remainder of the days. About 10 minutes later, the head chef came over with a bowl of applesauce. He had made it from an apple. There was one waiting each night for my son. ❤
This is amazing 🥹
@@SusanSheehy wow!! Amazing
😮 awesome 😢
What a heart of service! This brought tears to my eyes!
I had $120 fall out of my pocket on the way to an excursion. I knew no one would turn it in so I didn’t bother, for a couple days, to call guest services. My spouse encouraged me to just call and ask so I did. It was amazing that someone turned in the money!! I was so shocked. The lady at guest services said “ wow it was even turned in by a fellow passenger!” She was as shocked as I was. She had the name and cabin number of the person that turned it in. We found this sweet older lady and gave her $25 for turning it in. She did not want to take it but I insisted. It was wonderful and encouraging to find out there are good, honest people still around😊
Sometimes it's nice if Guest Services isn't busy when walking by just to stop and say you're having a great cruise or to say thank you if a problem has been solved. It always seems to bring a smile to their faces.
I work in guest services at a resort and this is very true!! We’re often ambushed by issues or complaints or misunderstandings and it’s so nice to hear from happy guests as well and/or when things have been resolved for them.
Great idea!
I do this. Everyone can ALWAYSSS complain but so few stop and just say TY
I had a great day experience with someone from guest services. I asked to speak with her supervisor. She was so touched that she was practically in tears. She told me that she just recently got married to somebody that worked in the main dining room kitchen staff and couldn't wait to tell him after shift. I felt good about what I did😊
Thank you for reminding people to be polite to guest services. Mean people especially need to be reminded.
Good reminder just to be polite to people in general :)
We need to polite to all staff!!!! On a cruise or not!!!! It is a good habit. Recently was mailing a package and the line was out the door!!! When I got to the front I thanked the young man for coming to to work that day. He was the only person working in the busy ups store!!!
When we began moving our clothes into our cabin closet, it was very clear that a previous guest was a heavy smoker whose clothes carried a heavy smoke odor that permeated the closet interior. I'm very sensitive to smoke and I knew my clothes would absorb the smell and make for a miserable trip. I asked our cabin attendant if they had some kind of spray I could use to help remove the odor before my clothes absorbed that smell. We left for dinner. By the time we returned, the closet had been well taken care of, not a hint of smoke smell anywhere. I was able to unpack and enjoy a smoke-free vacation. I was beyond thankful.
I'm allergic to cigarette smoke.
I wonder what the cabin attendant did to remove the smell that good.
Did you ask him/her ?
Unfortunately, I did not ask. I should have, but I was so thankful for their quick attention.
😊
This is a unique one, but on one cruise I went on (Carnival), one of the guests forgot to bring hearing aid batteries and guest services asked if anyone else had some and I packed extra and so I shared them. Guest services was really grateful that I was willing to help that they sent chocolate covered strawberries to our room and bought us drinks. For even unusual things, I’ve found that guest services really does try to go above and beyond to help.
I broke the base off my lightweight mobility scooter going out to promenade deck on a ship, it was the base where the battery layed on. Thought my holiday was over. Made it back to the room and my wife spoke to the room steward. An engineer arrived shortly after, took my scooter away, returned it a few hours later patched up with some sort off fibre glass wrap which was so good, never replaced it when i got home. There are so many talented people who work on cruise ships, you just need to ask.
Loved the information. On my last cruise on the Crown Princess I received an emergency message from a friend who was at the Vet with my very elderly dog (18 years old). The Vet needed to speak to me and we were unable to connect. A quick call to Guest Services and they placed a call to the Vet then transferred it to our cabin phone. I was able to authorize the Vet to do what needed to be done and she ended up passing away later that morning. I was so grateful and Guest Services not only did this for us there was no charge. Totally above and beyond❤
😢
On one RCCL cruise, we were packing to go home and my husband couldn't find his car keys (we live in Florida and drive to the port). He went to Guest Services once and they said they didn't have them. After a lot of panic and a lot of looking, I told him to check again with Guest Services. He spoke to a different person and she found them. We figured out that , when we gave our bags to the porter on Day 1, they must have fallen when my husband went to slip them in a pocket on his backpack. One of the porters must have noticed them later and turned them in. Boy, were we relieved (and very lucky)!
A wheel on my mother in law's wheelchair broke. We asked guest services if they had an extra wheelchair we could borrow. They did have one we could use and they sent a crew member from the mechanic shop to our room and fixed the wheelchair. We were so grateful
While on Pride Of American in Honolulu, my wife and I were playing cards with our own worn out deck and a woman from guest services came over and gave us two new decks of cards with the Norwegian logo. Really surprised us. Nice touch!
On Celebrity, my spouse wanted to propose me to marriage during our cruise. He went to guest relations on day one and they were more than happy to help. They managed to arrange a meeting with the Cruise Director and they set the surprise up in the Main Dining Room (it was on the Eclipse) and the Maître D’ and one of their duets were involved as well. So my oblivious self had a wonderful proposal at cruise and the first thing we did afterwards was going at the guest relations desk ans thanking them.
In regards to the Disembarkation tags. I always take some return address labels from home to use. It prevents having to print out all that information by hand.
Yes, that was me with the earplugs on Celebrity cruise lines! My husband forgot his CPAP the most important thing that you shouldn’t forget and I talked to my cabinet Steward and she asked me how my trip was going. I said well great but I can’t sleep because my husband forgot his CPAP machine and she said go to guest services and they’ll give you earplugs. Cruise was saved and I’m still married.😅
We were on a celebrity cruise and a fellow passenger and my husband were talking . The passenger accidently spilled his red wine all over my husband's new shirt. I called huess services to see about cleaning it. They came and got it,cleaned it and delivered it back the next day. It looked like new and they called to see if it looked good. Great sercice😊
You do a great job of engaging your audience by asking for their experiences. I enjoy your videos. Thank you for sharing. Nicely done. Regards from SW Florida.
It's always best to be kind and polite to people - it's been my experience that they will be much more willing to help you if you treat them with decency and respect. I had to ask Guest Services on our last (Disney - love Disney cruises so much!) if I could cancel an excursion scheduled for the next day because of an ankle issue I had had to see the onboard nurse about (didn't realize that it was actually broken). I told him up front that I would understand if the answer was no. He said he would look into it and then came to me at dinner (!) to say that my excursion had been refunded. I was blown away. Could have hugged the guy!
Soooo sorry about your broken ankle! :(
My wife went on her first cruise with me (I had been on 3 cruises years before). She wanted to have a speciality seafood dinner. However l do not eat seafood but I was informed to bring my food from the buffet. We informed ahead of time only my wife would be charged $40 for her dinner. Later l checked our bill online and we were charged $80. My wife telephoned Guest Services to remove the extra charge. A day later the charge was removed. I do like the suggestion that one may have a speciality dinner and have the other person not pay and not his wife dine alone.
I install hotel locks for a living. If your card has a magnetic stripe, you can punch a hole in it. If your card is the "tap" type (RFID), do NOT punch a hole in it. RFID cards contain a microchip and a spiral antenna that you will most-likely damage, rendering the card useless.
Another reason to ask guest services for help. They will have someone figure out how to how to attach a lanyard while maintaining the card’s functionality.
The engineers will be grateful for reporting small problems. They’d much rather check on a squeaky bathroom fan than have it burn out and catch fire.
story from a cruise director on our cruise. Line at Guest Services and couple at head of line asked what time was the midnight buffet. After being told it was at midnight, seven other people got out of line.
😂🕛😂
😢 sad and funny
Lol
This made me lol 😅
I had an Aft Excel suite on Carnival Celebration, on the second day of the cruise the suite became very hot and humid, the air conditioning stopped working. Guest services immediately sent a representative who had a fancy thermostat with her. She took the temp then placed a call. 10 minutes later two engineers arrived and began working on the air conditioning units (there were two separate units). Everything was fixed within the hour!
I have posted before about the extra help we have been given, so I won't repeat myself. The best advice is, if you have a problem ask for help. Can't hurt! I'm reminded of one instance on Holland America years ago. We like to eat in the dining room as we enjoy the leisurely and quiet atmosphere. Occasionally there would be a cheese option for dessert. After a few days I asked our waiter if there was any Edam cheese on the ship, as I particularly like it. Dutch ship should have Dutch cheese. After that every night as we left the dining room he handed me a little foil basket of Edam cheese and crackers for a midnight snack! Another time on Princess my husband liked the onion soup so much he asked if he could have it every night. Several times during our cruise I heard people asking the waiter, "Why can't I have onion soup like he has?"
I was able to get earplugs on NCL. It was a girls trip and my friend's sister wound being quite the snorer. Those earplugs saved the trip for me!
Thank you for this video! After watching it I emailed my travel agent. She called the cruise line and said they will have a medical fridge for my kids medication, cords for the c-pap, and no down feathers (a few of us are allergic). I had no idea I could ask for those things. Thanks so much!
On my first cruise I noticed the lamp just above my bed was flickering terribly. I reported that to the guest relations desk and even before I was done talking the agent contacted the maintainance team to have that fixed. Before I made it back to my cabin they had that already sorted out. Impressive.
Thankfully, I watched so many of your videos, I haven't had to ask for anything on a cruise ship yet. Love watching your videos. Thank you Llana!
Royal Caribbean had a way to request an extension cord and distilled water for my CPAP before the cruise. They were in the cabin when we arrived. Kudos!
It is surprising to discover all the different things that can be done by the cruise personnel. When we were on a Princess cruise to Alaska last year, we were asked if we could vacate our cabin for a couple of hours so they could replace the carpet! I’m not sure how they accomplished this with all the furniture (we had a mini suite) but when we returned to our cabin we had brand new carpet!
We pretty much always travel on DCL and I’ve asked for many different types of pillows from Memory Foam to an ultra soft pillow and they always say that they will see what they can do, but they have always managed to find the perfect pillow for me. 😍
Not just guest services the whole events team at RC are totally incredible!!! The helped me plan the perfect engagement to my fiancee on her first cruise on the very bow of the Anthem of the Seas. However, once onboard I still need to speak with them often because the proposal is going to be in a restricted area I needed approval from so many people from the captain, first officer, chief of security, and several other people I never meet, lol. She did say yes on the very bow of the ship in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We area getting married this December at Sandals Royal Barbados.
Congrats!
I went on my first cruise this past week and absolutely loved it. I went on the ncl gem out of Boston and as someone who lives in New England, it was a nice and easy way to try my first cruise. I absolutely loved it. One thing that’s well worth it on ncl is the mandara spa pass it was around $200 for the whole week and definitely was well worth it.
Love the Gem that was my first cruise ship as well a few years ago. I'm glad you had a good time. NCL Gem is the perfect sized ship for someone's first cruise.
Ncl,hal and Cunard are favs!
Fabulous tips. It never would have occurred to me for some of those things-shoes repaired- wow that is going the extra mile
On my 1st cruise my luggage was very late getting to my cabin, I went to guest services to inquire about the delay, they were very apologetic and gave me 2 toiletry kits and 2 free cruise line tshirts.(RC)
I've had their toiletry kit. It's barely usable
Many years ago, when in my 20's, we would stay up late and "borrow" a lounge chair for our balcony. The last time we did that was our first Celebrity cruise in the early 2000's. When our cabin steward saw it out there, he said we could have just asked and they would have brought one.
I popped out to my room's balcony to take a picture of Port; My balcony door slammed shut behind me, and the lever went into the down/locked position!.... I used the Crew Chat Guest Services for rescue!
On a recent cruise, my husbands eyeglasses were not very straight. We went to guess services and a super nice person called someone from the back office and he fixed the screw on the glasses. Another time we didn’t have enough hot water in shower and someone came very quickly and fixed it.
Others advise that if you have a cabin issue (not moving cabins), but like a light out, chairs needed, bed issue, cord for C-Pap, etc. talk with your cabin steward. If each traveler does that, instead of all going to guest services, the steward can come through and less cruisers in line at guest services. - If you are offered something from Guest Services (like a cruise credit), get it in writing before you leave the ship.
While on a cruise in April this year, my husband's mother passed away. Before passing away, guest services arranged a ship to shore phone call that allowed my husband to call her--we were in the middle of the Atlantic on a transatlantic crossing. No charge. They were super nice to him.
Yes, be polite!!!
Guest Services is also Lost and Found. I had RX sunglasses fall from my pocket and after a day they were at Guest Services. They had a box full of them.
I left my camera at one of the game shows. A crew member found it and turned it into guest services. I needed to prove it was mine. I had a photo of myself already taken, and that was good ID.
⭐ on MSC I got earplugs. My assigned cabin was a handicap wheelchair cabin on deck 5. It was under the theater stage on deck 6. During rehearsal on embarkation day, my walls were vibrating from the heavy bass. They gave me earplugs at first. The next morning they moved me to a handicap cabin on deck 11
Your best tip, and it's also the key to getting along in the world, is to be polite.
We should all strive to put our best foot forward in interacting with others. One
can easily make someone's day by doing so and, in turn, enriching one's own life.
I took a group on a Carnival cruise (Carnival Firenze) in June of 2023. Everyone did not go into the app to select a debarkation time, so we had a bunch of our group members stuck in the last group. I had prescheduled a shuttle to get the group to the airport and needed to reach the shuttle company the evening before the debarkation. The rep at guest services allowed me to use a ship phone to make that call. It was a life saver!!
Many years ago, I remember sending a postcard from every port while on the ship! Didn’t realize it is still “a thing “. But of course mail happens!
Guest services was very kind to help us know how much postage we would need for some postcards, and even mailed them for us.
My mom started bringing travel fans years ago. And now we have some that are so much lighter but charge with a usb c adapter. So when our phone is done we can charge those up. She always brings two knowing I’ll need one along the way. Plus you can use on the plane or the hotel room before and after the cruise. Couldn’t travel without those
I travel with one for years. Got one packed for our cruise that is coming up.
Do you mind sharing the link?
Two or three different times on a cruise (most likely Princess) I have put my cellphone or Kindle down somewhere and left it behind in a public area or even once in the public bathroom. Luckily, they were turned in to the staff and wound up so I could pick it up at guest services. They gave me a form and asked some security questions to make sure it was my phone (and I wasn't just trying to steal one) and they had me unlock it where they could see it. Thank you to the staff or cruisers who turned it in and to guest services for facilitating its return to me (more then once). Frankly, I was feeling pretty stupid for doing this but the friendly staff went the extra mile and told me it happens more often than anyone would believe. Who would have thought we cruisers could be such an absent-minded bunch!
We were on a ship many years ago and the A/C wasn't working. We complained about it and Maintenance assured us they fixed it. They did not.They also told us they were sailing full and could not get us another cabin. It was sweltering in that cabin. I went down to Guest Services AGAIN (my husband had been there already) and they assured me it was working. So, I asked if one of the customer service reps could come with me to the cabin and check it out. She walked in the door and was appalled. So, they magically came up with another cabin for us! It never hurts to ask.
On Disney, GS will use your flight home info and print out the boarding passes. Especially great if the day before is a sea day.
We filled out a form before disembarking once and mentioned we didn’t have a pen to do it and had to ask a friend for one. Upon disembarking we received a package from Guest Services that had 2 pens and 2 beautiful Princess journals in it. That was going above and beyond! Loved it.
Good information. Making lists on things to not forget.
I love your website. So much information and very enjoyable to listen to you.
On Viking several years ago, there was an annoying metal on metal sound. Turned out there was a metal rod rolling around on a tender that was located above us. Guest Services went out of their way to find the noise (engineering did).
Happy Sunday llana hope you have a lovely day enjoying the sunshine 🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺
I am looking forward to our first cruise in August '25! I really appreciate your videos! I feel somewhat prepared on what to expect. Thank you for all of the information and ideas!
Llana is the reason our 1st cruise went perfect. Hope you enjoy your 1st cruise!
Ask about free or dscounted cabin upgrades right aftee boarding. Due to cancelations or underbooked cruises upgrades are sometimes are available for those who ask. If you are musician you can arrange to perform in a show, or in a pub or restaraunt, sometimes getting a free drink or perk in doing so. On another Christmas cruise myself and my daughters were able to arrange extra ice time other than public skating time to practice figure skating with skating show performers during their open ice practice ice times. This was done by simply asking guest services who made it happen. Another perk to check for if any spots are available to have dinner at the captains table. There is usually an upgraded menu & sometimes a free drink or glass of wine for these captains dinners. On longer cruises there are usually two or more of these captains dinners. Even if the captains dinner guest list is full, you can ask to be put on awaiting list if some one is is unable to make it and cancels their captains table reservation. Check availability when you book your cruise & again ASAP after you board.
Thanks, Ilana! Great tips about Guest Services. I definitely use the currency exchange service, as well as mailing postcards, aboard Crystal cruises.
On a HAL cruise, my roommate got water and extension cord for their cpap machine. They asked for both before embarkation day. They also requested the “egg-crate” style mattress topper.
You definitely need the mattress topper on Viking!
My husband and I just returned from Bermuda, sailing on NCL Joy. We had a wonderful cruise! We did ask for playing cards at Guest Services. We actually checked back there a few times to see if we could get some. Each time we asked, the customer reps gave each other the strangest looks, as if they had cards but perhaps we're instructed not to give them out?!? On day 4, we passed through the casino only to observe that playing cards, used playing cards no less, were for sale for purchase. Next time I'll bring my own. I think a complimentary deck of cards is not a lot to ask. My playing cards are from Dollar Tree. Two decks for $1.25 U.S.
Our Princess ship, had a small library...there were books as well as lots of games AND playing cards (new!) for guests to enjoy on the saiing...free...
We like to buy the used cards from the casino has a souvenir. They are usually $1 a deck. They haven't been available on Princess or RCCL since the pandemic.
NCL is going down, nickel and dime.
We spent a 3 days cruise on Liberty of the Seas without hot water in our cabin. We asked someone to check/ repair it and he was obviously not able to do so. It was a long 3 days with cold water. I will never take that ship again.
We were at the end of a hallway by the crew door. It opened and slammed shut multiple times per night. By the third night of not sleeping I was a mess. My husband went to guest services and asked if they could do something about it. They fixed it that day so the door slow closed-- wish we had asked earlier.
My sister loves collecting pens from places she has been! Asked our NCL room steward for a pen and he did leave her a NCL Haven pen! lol We were not in Haven but showed our steward our appreciation with an extra tip!
I also collect the pens with the logos.
I had no idea that you could get (possibly) all those things at guest service! I have a CPAP so I will ask for distilled water, but I really had never thought of the other items. I like to just walk by when it’s not busy and thank them because I’m sure a lot of people demand things and don’t thank them. Great post!
My first and third cruise was on the same ship. My 1st cruise I requested distilled water and received it for free. The 3rd cruise I had to pay for it. Carnival Pride
Great tips! It is kind of sad that you need to remind people to be kind and polite
I carryall firstaid kit with everything you can think of.
I like that Guess Service is always open, 24/7!
If you want quick and attentive customer service, head down there after 11 pm. They are generally very bored andbwill take the time to answer any questions about the shop or the ports. They will tell you current exchange rate in the ports as well as where to find the best WiFi.
I took my second cruise on Royal Caribbean almost 20 years after the first one. Of course I could not remember the details when booking. Guest services was able to trace my 2003 cruise and add it to my account for loyalty points.
On an Azamara cruise around Iceland, the sea got a little rough as we were in Arctic waters. Guest services invited everyone to drop by for a bottomless supply of ginger candies, which genuinely helped!
I never would have thought to ask for a fan, mini ship map, or to remove furniture. Great tips! We had a really bad experience on our last cruise with guest services being a complete joke on Norwegian. The toilet in our cabin didn't work half the time and they couldn't fix it and couldn't move us because the ship was overbooked. There were a lot of things wrong with that cruise, but that was one of the worst parts. I'm glad to hear that other cruise lines are going above and beyond for their guests!
That’s too bad - not fun when you have that kind of experience. I would have asked to speak with a supervisor, maybe of housekeeping :(
@@LifeWellCruised We called guest services 3 or 4 times over the course of the 7 day cruise, but they weren't able to fix it. It was SO frustrating. Suffice it to say that we will not be cruising with Norwegian again.
We had three in our mini suite and we did ask for a third chair for the balcony and got it. I did travel with a friend who needed hypoallergenic sheets and got them. I have mailed cards from cruise ships but it was back in the 70s early 80s, glad to hear you can still do it! Wow Illana good information for the ships art print out.🚢🙂
Thanks for your informative videos-I appreciate you😊
This post is really about my experiences with the FOS I just came off of Sunday. I would post it on your review from a few weeks ago, but you might not see it. Well, you were definitely right about that Ice Skating Extravaganza in Studio B. That just blew me away. Totally Awesome. And that Once Upon a Time show was equally as fantastic. You really get some bang for your buck on such a short three night cruise. It was something seeing all the different locations you mentioned. Some of them were just little areas. Like Loco Fresh or whatever it's called. Didn't realize it was just a long countertop near the pool. I just grabbed some chopped meat there on the first day. Boleros too was just a grooved out section on the 4th deck. And yes, it extended to the other side. Some Latins were playing their version of Mah Jong there. Forgot what it was called. Just passed the Schnooner bag a few times. If I drank a bit more I might has sat there by the piano bar. Never ate anything at forgot the name of the place where Starbuck's was. I thought Sorrento's pizza stunk really. We ate dinner the eight of us on the 5th floor of the Main Dining Room every night. Staff was excellent. The game shows were a lot of fun but not as good as the shows on NCL. I tried the Flowrider twice and I stunk. Couldn't get to the on the knees part. I found out from googling they have flow riders on land like at Margaritaville on Hollywood Beach although it's kind of expensive. Really want to practice and get better. I don't see the Oasis class being that much better. Except for maybe bumper cars. LOL. I don't think Studio B had that during the day? Never made it there. One other thing I like better on The Escape was O ' Sheehans. Much better option for late night snacking. Oh Well. Enough for Now. If you like this video.... Oh wait. Ta ta. Never did see Lime and Coconut. At least I don't think so.
I've mailed lots of postcards from cruise ships. They may take a month to get to their destinations, but you can do it. Most of them have stamps. They probably won't be able to get stamps for you if you're repositioning across an ocean though.
Scissors. If you get a particularly tough wrist band.
I found a little rubber ducky in the elevator and have it in my shelf at home 😊 it’s soooo cute
check if your ship has a library. On a recent Princess cruise there were all types of games in the library as well as printed Sudokos (with answers printed on the back), enough for 3 weeks.
On a recent HAL solar eclipse cruise I had a roommate that snores very loudly. I lost an earplug. I told my room stewards, thinking I meant that I lost an earbud, they searched high and low and even took apart their vacuum to see if perhaps it had been sucked up. When I showed them my matching foam earplug. They advised me that they actually did find it had been vacuumed up. 5 minutes later I had a knock at my door, Jojo handed me a baggy full of foam earplugs!
I also asked them for a mattress topper and they put one on my bed super fast.
I found my rom stewards to be much more helpful than GS was if I’m honest.
We had a very noisy cabin. I put up with it for several days. My husband couldn’t hear the noises when he took off his hearing aids. I finally complained and they provided ear plugs on HAL. It was a nice cabin near guest services except we could hear the anchor drop and the thrusters.
Thank you, I read all the comments to get ideas, and I will definitely bring ear plugs.
The cord for my husband's electric wheelchair charger wasn't working and our cabin steward got us a new one and just exchanged for our broken one as we were not going straight home after our cruise. So very kind of them to do this for us.
Is there anything different I should pack for a cruise to Hawaii, we have done lots of Caribbean cruises and always listen to your videos months before our cruises.
My wife and I were on a Princess cruise (LOVE Princess! We sailed over 20 times with them). Due to my wife's medical issues, we would always get a cabin in the back near the elevator so that it would be a short trip to the food. On this particular cruise, we had an issue with the shower's water temp. No matter how much you turn the knob, the water was scalding hot to the point that I couldn't get in. I called GS, and within 30 minutes, a rather large fellow with a toolbox was at the door. He checked the temp, fiddled with the knob, then proclaimed that there was nothing that could be done as we were too close to the engines and that was causing the water to be hot. I glanced in the mirror to see if the word "IDIOT" was written on my forehead, it wasn't, but I knew it would be pointless to argue with him. I called GS again to request a different cabin, but the ship was full. I ended up getting a bucket from our very apologetic steward and just filled it, let it cool, and then bathed that way.
I've had minor complaints with Princess in the past, but they were usually cleared up right away. What surprised me is that GS did nothing to compensate me for this. My wife was fine with it, she loved hot showers.
That's my rant, 1 disappointing cruise out of 20+ pleasurable ones.
I would have taken you seriously but for the comment about the gentleman’s size. Why does that matter
@BostonHeather because he was an impressively large fellow who reminded me of Dolph Lundgren from "Rocky".
We also asked our steward if there was a way we could access glue to fix a ladies sling back shoe. Bless him, he took the shoe away and got it fixed
I once lost a very expensive lipstick on board. I thought for sure it was swept up and trashed. Lo and behold it was turned in to Customer Services.
My husband and I recently cruised on Norwegian Spirit and were able to get free decks of cards from guest services. They were used decks from the casino.
Many of the things we now carry on cruises were added as a result of issues we had on prior cruises. One time my wife brought a gown with sequins, and many of the sequins had broken loose during our travel. Since the gown was in a garment bag the sequins weren't lost. So we asked for glue, and actually one of the crew loaned us a bottle of glue and we repaired the gown. Guess what we've since added to our cruise packing list ? Yep - glue! As for fans, I carry 2 rechargeable desktop fans mostly on the off chance that there is a problem with the hvac system (such as loss of power). Otherwise we've never had an issue with the staterooms feeling stuffy. In our experience if guest services cannot resolve a problem they can probably find the people who can.
We ran out of motion sickness medicine for my adult daughter and the medical office was closed. Guest services on Carnival gave her some at no charge.
Yes, the scales are a great thing. Even to double check the hand held scale I bring with.
A month ago we went on a Greek Islands cruise with Holland America. We changed US dollars to Euros a couple times at guest services.
I have reflux and I'm hoping they can elevate the head of my bed a few inches. It has helped at home! I'll let you know
This is something they need to know before your cruise.
Ask them for a triangle foam pillow that will raise the head if yhe bed
Thank you for this video. We are blessed that we have not need to use any of the suggestions. Viewing your videos help us get ready on every cruises we have taken. Any special suggestions for Japan cruises?
I have used the money exchange on Royal Caribbean. I have also asked and gotten to use the medical cooler
so my daughter needed (sorry for TMI) tampons. none in the gift shop. they charged us a ton for old fashion tampons. I was shocked. bring back up ladies.
Not TMI. Practical information and advice for the other half of the population… 😊
Personally, I think this should be a free item or at least a minimal fee. The company I work for provides them in each women's rest room at no cost.
That's a ( just in case) personal item you should pack
@@gloriacastillo2898 have you never forgotten something when packing for vacation? Also, not everyone has timely periods. One or two emergency tampons in a purse don't help when you're away from readily available personal care products. My point is this is something the cruise line shouldn't feel the need to gouge their customers with.
@@SEK-COJO_inmyheart
I am sorry to hear that your daughter incurred a hefty fee for these items, BUT I do disagree with you about personal items such as these should be free of charge.
Somewhere along the line everyone will be paying for the 'freebies' and I don't feel that it would be fair to those who never need them - men, nor is it fair to the women who no longer end them.
Always remember that It Is the responsibility of every person to pack their personal items, even those of a just in case situation.
Celebrity gives out decks of cards at guest services but they no longer have Celebrity on them. I have a couple packs at home with Celebrity on them. A nice little free souvenir from years ago.😊
Howdy llana, Already subscribed and hit the like button. Never heard of anyone that got ear plugs from guest services. Carnival and Holland America has been especially helpful.
On my 1st cruise on RCL, I didn’t know about Guest Services for Dramamine. Pretty much everyone was sick, I was the only customer. I told her about seeing a doctor (yes, I was young), and I was not rude. She was rude, and just slap the pills down without a word.
That was my last cruise on RCL. Yes, manners help retain customers.
On our recent HAL cruise in the Mediterranean they had scales near the elevators on every floor. I used it to weigh myself. Shocked to find I had put on 5kg! Now in the process of getting that off before my next cruise in December
Thanks for the update!! Have a great time in Hong Kong!!
Our travel agent gifted us a bottle of really nice wine, so nice that we bought another bottle. A daily check of charges showed that both bottles had been charged to our account. Princess guest services adjusted and removed the extra bottle charge. This without the chit from the travel agent (which we still had but not right then).
On embarkation day, I always ask our stateroom attendants for 12-15 additional hangers, as there are never enough hangers for 2 people. They are always able to accommodate - which are usually plastic and absolutely fine!!!