Important Pre Cruise Notes

Published: 31 October, 2008

Author:

We’re only about a month before cruising and this is a good time to get everyone caught up on some of things we should all know before boarding Dec 7 in Colon for our cruise. Skip Doeringer will be having a get together in Nov for all the information about the bus to the Port of Colon. He will contact you about when and where. The Yellow Fever fervor is over finally!! If you haven’t been advised yet, it is NOT REQUIRED to have the vaccine. If you have any questions, I suggest you contact your local doctor for advice. MINSA here in Panama now says they have only a “recommendation” for the vaccine. There have been no cases of Yellow Fever in Panama since 1974. See Oct 16, 2008 posting on Panama Guide.

• If you haven’t yet gone online and checked in and printed your “SET SAIL” boarding pass, please do so ASAP. In Colon there will be 2 lines; the short, easy one is for those of us who have our Set Sail Boarding Pass printed and a machine will simply read the bar code at the top and up the ramp we’ll go for refreshments and to see our cabin. The long line is for those who need to check in at the pier and it will be not as easy, comfortable or speedy as the other.

• Our ship, “Enchantment of the Seas” will be welcoming us to board at 2 p.m. Refreshments and Luncheon will be available at this time as soon as we are checked in by the officials at the pier. Please try to have all your documentation, Passport and Boarding Pass ready and somewhere easy to reach. For those of us SCUBA diving, be sure you have your C Card from your certifying agency.

• Shore/Land Excursions booked online are easy. If you choose Royal Caribbean, www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreandlandexcursions your coupon tickets will be given to you onboard the ship. If you choose Shore Trips Excursions, www.shoretrips.com you can print the required 2 copies of your vouchers yourself and don’t forget to bring them with you please. This is your “ticket” showing you’ve paid. Shore Trips specializes in smaller groups so we are more likely to be together with others in our cruise group by booking with them. Take some time and look at both sites. Each has some trips tailor made for you. If you are planning to SCUBA dive, please book your trips ASAP as there are absolute minimum sign-ups, especially in Boniare, required before any of us can receive confirmation.

• You can purchase a “Soda Package” from RCCL which gives you unlimited soft drinks for $6.90 per person, per day. Otherwise, the drinks included at no charge are coffee, tea, normally some kind of juice and water. Everything else will be a charge on your bill

• No monies are handled onboard the ship. You will have a ship’s card to show for all purchases and a final bill will be given you before departing the ship. Remember, we all have the perk of $100 per CABIN ONBOARD CREDIT to use. The credit is in the name of the first person on the booking. So, in case of non family persons sharing a cabin, be sure to discuss this with your cabin-mate. You can arrange for separate names to be logged once onboard as well. If you want to try one of the Specialty Restaurants, remember you need a reservation and you can see online the costs and menus.

• VERY IMPORTANT, YOUR CREDIT CARDS: Credit card companies are getting touchy these days and I have had people on trips say their cards have been refused and “frozen” by Visa, M/Card, AMEX. It’s a mess to untangle if this should happen. To avoid this happening to you is very simple. Phone the toll free number on the back of your plastic card and inform Customer Service you are cruising and to allow any charges to be OKd from the ports we’re stopping in. Trust me….there will be lots of wonderful opportunities for shopping, dining and buying things in all the places we’re going!!

• The only “dress up” required is in the Formal Dining Room and it’s not stringent. Ladies need to have some kind of skirt, pantsuit or dress and Gentlemen have to have knees covered and a jacket for Dinner. Many men can get away with forgetting the jacket and wearing the Guayabera Shirts that are sold here in Panama. There will be an evening Dinner to Meet the Captain and many folks like to doll up for that. Believe me, you’ll see everything from evening gowns, tiaras, tuxedos to cotton sun dresses & Dockers!!

• The large new ships normally don’t have problems with anyone getting sea sick. However….if you’d like to be “safe, not sorry” I suggest you bring whatever you are most comfortable using; wrist bands with plastic buttons on acupressure points are my favorite, different patches and any number of tablets for sale all work. Just browse the drug store. There’s one onboard but you’ll find things expensive.

• FOR YOUR COMFORT: Remember, we’re going into the Southern Hemisphere and it’s summertime there! Warm! Panama clothes work great. And don’t forget comfy shoes for both onboard and onshore. There’s lots of dancing to be done!!!!

• OUR SAILING IS THE INAUGURAL FOR RCCL FROM PANAMA AND IS BEING SOLD AS “AN EMERSION SAILING”. This means we are merging both Spanish speaking and English speaking folks together along with many Europeans. All announcements will be made in English and Spanish and many Shore Excursions will be in 2 languages as well unless specified on your voucher. Many services, products, drinks and some food will have a Spanish flavor as well. But, don’t worry, onboard you will be understood and you’ll be amazed how multi-lingual the local people in our ports of call are…..in the ABC islands, most are required to be fluent in 5 languages before graduation from high school!!

SEE YOU AT THE BUS AND ONBOARD!! Mitzi Martain

cell: 6469-6712
e-mail: martain@tcarrier.net