jjs217

We did the charter last December on a Venture Antarctica cruise. Oh my goodness - we had to get up at 3:15AM (and that was having clothes layed out and everything ready to go.) The plane was in pretty bad shape and they served the strangest meal. It was a sandwich, but it was a strange sandwich. We didn't get offered snacks or any extra beverage during the flight. I went to the restroom in the back and the flight attendants were packing their roll-aboards with all the bags of chips and left over cans of soda. I would have been willing to pay a little extra for the cruise (it's crazy expensive anyway) for a nicer charter with a better meal.

Good point. I was just wondering if I have a cruised booked on one of the impacted ships. I'm guessing the "45" won't be able to sail with the faulty panels.

Is there a way to find out which 45 ships have been installed with these faulty panels?

There is another interesting saying, "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will keep these all suggestions and then look forward to cruising the Kimberly Coast.

Thank you so much. It sounds like the key is to break up the flight into legs and enjoy some down time in between.

I want to take this cruise so badly, but fear the actual process of flying to/from Darwin and to/from Broome. I live in the desert southwest - how hard is it to get to the cruise. Do you have any suggestions and what flying route did you take?

Since you are from Dallas, I was making a joke in response to your statement about rural Americans not knowing what smart casual means. I guess I should have used smiley faces (with cowboy hats.)

That's funny - we've met people from Dallas who thought it was okay to wear a cowboy hat in the dining room.

Oh man - is that depressing. True, but depressing.

I was on the Antarctic Cruise last December that had all the problems. The stabilizers did not fall off as they were working at 50% capacity. Crossing the Drake is always going to be "iffy" even with stabilizers in 100% working order. The crew is very good about watching the weather for crossing conditions and will try to work with that. My advice - take seasick medication and try not to walk around too much.

We did the Amazon on Regent, and made stops at both places. Since they are so close together, I would imagine your offered experiences will be the same. I think Alter do Chao is a little bit of a step down. We saw a lot more from our shore excursions that were offered out of Santarem.

The Colonnade is very utilitarian. I'm just guessing, but when we were crossing The Drake, we hit a rogue wave and dishes and glasses on tables that weren't occupied went flying. Perhaps it makes for an easier clean-up. Also, on the few evenings we ate there for dinner, everybody was dressed in what looked like their expedition clothes. Hmmm. Maybe they just decided to keep it canteen-ish, because that is basically what it is.

Exactly right. When we cruised on Crystal (and loved it) that was the only "problem". It is why we also sailed on the other luxury lines.

And that is it's original color????

It's haunted.

It depends upon the airline and your frequent miler status. If they are willing to put you on an upgrade list, you will be low priority as the cruise lines have a "cheaper" contract price with the airlines than those who pay a regular price.

Just this past month, we were placed in the La Meridien Las Ramblas. Like everything else, stuff changes.

I don't believe they exchange money.

After some thought - maybe it is the Greatest Of All Time cow's milk - GOAT, not goat. It is all in caps.

Oh my gosh - now that is funny.

We got off a Splendor European cruise just a few weeks ago. It was just a two week cruise. The first few days, they were ready and willing to break a larger bill. After that, we were told they didn't have smaller bills. It was a very port intensive cruise (only 1 at sea day), so I'm guessing they can't go to a bank and get change if they don't have an account.

We found that on our Venture Antarctica cruise, the best place to hangout is the Bow Lounge on deck 6. We lovingly referred to it as the Blounge. Most of the naturalists and a few crew members/officers on their break hangout there as well, so it is a wonderful place for ALL the scuttlebutt and information. There is a huge outdoor bow area, so if a naturalist sees something, it is a quick trip to great views and whatever has been spotted. There is also a mini snack bar with coffee, sodas, cookies, pastries, and soup in the afternoon.

You are seeing no ship because it is in the new harbor. You should have read your paperwork. Hahaha.

Hi alainciao - we never go to the shows, so I can't comment on them. Sorry! We usually sit in bed and read after dinner. Boring!! Hahaha. Also, we always hang out in the Observation Bar before dinner, not the Meridian lounge. The piano player in the OB was actually pretty good (can't remember his name) on the evenings he played slow music. Some nights, everything he played was in double time - we would kind of laugh and wonder what he had been smoking. I did notice that as the cruise went on, the OB got more and more crowded. Maybe people were fleeing the Meridian Lounge.