Expert: Linda - 1/26/2010

Question
QUESTION: hi, I have a few questions to ask, we are getting two rooms on the liberty ship this summer and I wanted to know if we would be getting more than two room keys for the people who want to spread out?And my daughter will be spending her birthday on the ship so I  wanted to know how much it would if cost we get her a cake at dinner and to have her room decorated with streamers and such? Lastly, is it bad to be located on the main deck??     Thank you

ANSWER: Hi Jalisha,

So envious you're going to be cruising before I am again, congratulations!

You need to tell the Maitre d when you board the ship, or that first night when it's your daughters birthday, they will bring a cake....no charge.  Also notify your travel agent as well.

Yes, you can get more room keys and in fact each person in the room will need one because your room key is also the key you use to get on and off the ship, to purchase any drinks or things in the shops on the ship.  A credit card is attached to all the cards and you'll receive a statement at the end of the cruise for each one of the people using the keys.

As for decorating her room, just go to the website and you'll see options for things you can order and pay for ahead of time; everything from fresh fruit to decorations to chocolate covered strawberries.  Just choose what you'd like

NO, being on the main deck is a perfect location, you don't have a disco above you, nor the top deck where you may hear people jogging.  Main deck is GREAT!

Enjoy your cruise

Linda

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for the quick answer! If the ship sails at 4:00pm how early can you board? Would it be okay to start embarkation early and avoid lines?

Answer
Yes, you can get on early, usually around 11:30 AM.  If you are there too early to check in, there are plenty of room to stand or sit until the lines open up.  To make things go quickly, complete your paperwork on line, have your tickets, passport, drivers license and credit card in hand so when you approach the counter, you're set to go.  check in only takes about 10 min per person, yours will be less cause you'll be using 1 credit card, then all they need to do is print the extra cards. Honestly, how long you wait depends on if you hit the port when they've just unloaded a bus from the airport; but in our over 30 cruises, we've never waited longer than an hour and that was on MSC because they escort you to your cabin.

We usually arrive at the port around 11:30.  The really early birds are in front of us, but they've had to wait till the lines open.  We get there around 11;30 and usually by 11:45 or 12:00 we're on board.

We always go to our cabin, dump our carry on, then sit and read all the literature on the beds.  If you want to hit the pool right away, bring your suits in your carry on, then change and head for the pool.  Your luggage won't be there for several hours remember.  After we've done our reading we start at the top deck, order a drink and walk each deck from one end to the other so we know where we're going.  (of course stopping for refills on the drinks). If you're hungry, you can go get lunch first, then start your touring the ship after lunch.


Linda