Strophic

I don't read many books while on the cruise itself, but I love my kindle and audiobooks during the long drives from NC to Florida and back.

My lineup so far for this year's cruise is:

Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things - Randy O. Frost

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

I probably won't read/listen to them all, but I like to have some options that cover a variety of topics.

I'm just a couple of years out of college, so we do what we can with what we have. I have to admit though that the very premise of this thread is kind of ridiculous. Other people spending less on their cruise doesn't affect you, so why would you be bothered by it? Do you go down to the lower decks of each ship and loudly sigh as you pass by all of the inside cabins because those people didn't splurge on a balcony?

Since there is already a thread about playlist suggestions, why not have a thread for podcast recommendations? I just started listening to podcasts this year, and I have no idea why it took me so long to get into them, because I absolutely love them now. I'd love to share my favorites and also hear from everyone else, and maybe compile a master list of recommendations.

Comedy

The Adventure Zone - Another McElroy podcast (I love them, so there will be a lot of these), the three boys and their dad play Dungeons and Dragons. Starts out as a pretty silly D&D podcast and eventually blossoms into a truly epic narrative, keeping the humor all the way. I can't listen to this at work because it makes me laugh way too loud.

Citation Needed - Three guys choose a topic, read the Wikipedia article, and pretend they're experts. New topic every episode, always funny and surprisingly informative.

The Flop House - There are a lot of "bad movies" podcasts, but this one is my favorite. Three guys watch a different terrible movie every episode and discuss it, episodes run about 1-2 hours.

The Mortified Podcast - Adults read their own teenage diaries in front of a live audience. Awkward, relateable, and funny.

My Brother, My Brother and Me - A comedy advice show by podcasting geniuses the McElroy brothers. Three brothers give advice "Dear Abby" style with an irreverent twist. The boys are wonderful and really carry this podcast with their super sharp wit.

Judge John Hodgman - A hilarious podcast where "Judge" John Hodgman and his bailiff Jesse Thorn settle everyday disagreements Court TV-style.

The Worst Idea of All Time - Two Australian guys watch Sex and the City 2 once a week for a whole year and have a podcast about it. It's hysterical.

Educational

The History of English - A chronological history of the development of the English language. Nearing its 100th episode!

Lore - Aaron Mahnke's brilliant and atmospheric podcast about superstitions, urban legends, and ghost stories. Bite-sized at 30 minutes or less per episode and completely spooky.

Sawbones - This one could easily fit into comedy, but it's also educational. Justin McElroy (of the McElroy brothers) and his wife Dr. Sydnee McElroy discuss old-timey medicine and outdated medical procedures. Topics include bloodletting, aromatherapy, scurvy, and trepanation.

Stuff You Should Know - A funny, educational podcast about a huge variety of random topics. Not as well researched as they could be—sometimes I find myself scratching my head during episodes on topics that I have personal knowledge in.

History

Hardcore History - Host Dan Carlin puts a ton of research into this podcast, and it shows. His six-part World War I arc clocks in at nearly 24 hours in length. A couple of his episodes are paid, but he's got plenty of free episodes covering a variety of topics that you didn't even know you were interested in.

Stuff you Missed in History Class - A long-running podcast from the HowStuffWorks network with hundreds of bite-sized 30 minutes episode, this is a lighter and brisker podcast than Hardcore History, but just as entertaining.

Talk

Dear Sugar - Advice columnists Steve Almond and Cheryl Strayed give repond to listener questions with thoughtful, measured, and sometimes beautifully moving advice.

Modern Love - Readings from essays featured in the New York Times "modern love" column, followed by interviews with the essay authors. Essays range from funny, to sweet, to tragic, and I've been moved to tears by more than one episode.

*** with Marc Maron - Over 800 (!!) episodes of celebrity interviews, including famous politicians, athletes, actors, and entertainers.

True Crime

My Favorite Murder - A pretty good true crime podcast, but be warned that the hosts spend a long time talking off-topic at the beginning of each episode. Some people love it, but it might not be for you.

Generation Why - My favorite true crime podcast—succinct, well-researched, and laser focused on the topic of the week.

Last Podcast on the Left - Another good true crime podcast that focuses on a single crime each episode. This one has a little bit more humor and levity to it than other crime podcasts while (for the most part) remaining respectful to the subject matter.

I was very thorough in making sure that I wrote a TripAdvisor review for every place we visited last year, but I completely forgot to write a Cruise Critic review for the cruise itself. I am hopefully going to write one this year.

I absolutely cannot imagine travelling without my Kindle now that I have one. I'm one of those people who just can't sleep in a moving car or on a plane, so having dozens of books on hand in a device smaller than a single paperback is so useful. Plus the battery lasts days on a single charge—I fully charged it before we left last year and it lasted me the whole trip. I also like that you can read it at night/in the dark without needing a reading light, so I don't disturb my boyfriend when he's trying to sleep.

I also try to remember to pack at least one set of earbuds per person. If the passenger wants to listen to music/audiobooks/podcasts in the car, but the driver wants something else, one person can have the radio and the other person can listen to whatever they want on their phone/iPod. I still have an iPod, since I don't want to put all of my music on my phone, and it's actually great to keep in the car for long trips.

Sadly, I'm fairly sure that we won't be able to do a 2018 cruise, since I'll be using up all my vacation days to visit my friend in Arizona and to do a cheaper/shorter land-based vacation, so I am really hoping that this cruise will be awesome enough to carry me through to 2019!

We just hit our 100 day countdown til the cruise :D I can't believe it's still so many—when I was thinking about it in terms of "three months and change" it seems a lot shorter. But man, 100 days...

I still don't have any excursions officially booked yet, but I'm getting there. Parking is arranged, our AirBNB in Jacksonville is arranged, travel insurance is taken care of, reservations for shows are booked in...I wish there was more stuff to plan, honestly! Maybe I will make our packing lists in advance...I get such a rush from the planning process (meanwhile boyfriend is like 'just tell me how much money to bring and what to wear').

I don't know what I'm most excited for yet, but I am really stoked to try the zipline on the ship, eat at the steakhouse on the first night, see the diving show, and—of course—not have to spare one millisecond of thought towards work until I get back home :)

We didn't book any of our excursions through Carnival last year—not for Cozumel, and not for Roatan or Belize either. Go with a reputable company that has a high number of 5-star reviews on TripAdvisor and your chances are as good as any that you will have a great time.

It is surprisingly difficult to read this post since you have capitalized so many random words. Are you asking what your restaurant options are with the 2-night dining package?

what about us, though? We (the adults) don't buy drink packages, gamble or eat at a specialty restaurant. Should we be charged more for a cruise, because the cruise line is not making any additional money off of us that way?

I think it's nice when Princess charges $99 for the 3rd and 4th passenger. And they don't even stipulate that these are only kid prices. That's a perfect price for a kid, though.

Well no, since most adults get at least one of the "extras," even if it's not a guarantee. Children are guaranteed not to generate any income from drinking or gambling.

In spite of my thorough packing lists, my boyfriend forgot his formal pants on our last cruise. We actually borrowed a pair of pants from guest services (who knew?) but they were clearly tailored for a more...rotund gentleman than my 150 lb guy. He could practically fit both legs inside a single pant leg, so the results were pretty hilarious when he put them on. But they let us into the dining room both nights, so hey. Your mileage may vary on shorts, but I can confirm that cartoonishly large clown pants are a-okay as long as they are black.

To be honest, you are probably going to make things worse if you obsess over the idea of getting seasick as much as you are. Take a reasonable dose of dramamine and try to keep your mind occupied with fun activities—that will help you a lot more.

I paid my half in full shortly after booking, my boyfriend just made his final payment about a month in advance.

I don't support keeping cetaceans in captivity, so I would not participate in any excursion involving captive dolphins.

I would also recommend people NEVER, NEVER participate in any excursion that involves riding an elephant. It is terrible for their spines—they are big, but they aren't suited to carrying hundreds of pounds on their backs, and these elephant riding trips literally cripple them over time. The process used to control an elephant (literally called "spirit-breaking") so that it will allow itself to be ridden is also horrible and inhumane. I know these excursions aren't available in the Caribbean, but it's something to keep in mind generally when you travel.

probably, because a 7 month old is not going to fully partake in the buffet, MDR, excursions, or kid's club. :)

So, paying $800+ for a 7 month old kiddo doesn't sound reasonable.

But they are taking up a space on the ship that could be occupied by someone who buys a drinks package, gambles, and pays to eat at specialty restaurants.

Your child is a person, are they not? Why is it crazy to you that they might have to pay?

When it comes to evaluating risk you should always keep your head on straight and pay the most attention to the dangers you're actually likely to encounter. It makes me laugh that a few people up in the thread are worried about refugees and terrorists when they are many, many times more likely to be killed by a fellow American with a gun. There are risks to traveling (as there are with driving a car, walking around in your own city, and so on), but terrorism should be pretty far down your list of fears compared to mundane things like pickpockets and gropers.

If you're sticking to the touristy areas, I'd say walking around on your own is fine if you keep your wits about you. You don't need to hug your backpack to your stomach—like I've seen several tourists do—but just be aware of your possessions and you'll be okay. If you're going slightly more off the beaten path, probably bring at least one other person with you. If you really want to go deeper and you're unfamiliar with the area, take a local guide. I don't think it makes much sense to fear the world like there are attackers and thieves around every corner.

I traveled in Turkey for several weeks in my last year of college, and everyone in my class had a great time with no incidents. We were more or less allowed to roam as long as we had at least one other person with us, so we pretty much splintered off and did our own thing, and always made it back to the bus with all our fingers and toes. Bad areas *usually* look like bad areas, so you just need to use your everyday common sense.

Boyfriend and I are in our mid-twenties and were fairly satisfied with the entertainment on Carnival Magic. There was a really awesome and hilarious juggler, a rock show that we enjoyed, and then another performance that we were split on that I sadly don't remember the name of, but it was kind of a musical medley. It was a little avant garde for me, except for the woman who came out and sang Whitney Houston and KILLED IT. But boyfriend loved the whole thing, so your mileage may vary.

I'm going on a Royal Caribbean cruise this year and I think the entertainment options and shows appeal to me a little bit more, except for Cats.

OTOH, many "medecines" come from home remedies.

 

Aspiring came from willow tree bark. Quinine (used to be used to prevent and treat malaria) come from tree bark also.

 

Just because YOU think it hokum, does not make it so.

 

Also, if a placebo works, what is the problem? IT WORKS.

Do you even know what homeopathy is? It's literally water with poison in it, shaken, then distilled hundreds of times until no molecules of poison remain. Practitioner's believe that the water not only "remembers" having poison in it, but that the shaking and diluting process turns the water into an antidote for the poison it once contained. It does not work, and it's not anything like actual medicines with natural origins. It's got nothing to do with being a "home remedy" or not, it's just plain idiocy.

There's a word for 'alternative medicine' that actually works, you know. It's called medicine.

@Champagne, I know, and I know sea sickness isn't a very dangerous illness or anything, but I just hate this kind of willful, purposeful ignorance when it comes to people's health and well-being. It's the same kind of ignorance that leads people to waste their time and money on homeopathy, ear candling, healing crystals...the list goes on and on. And they are so stubborn and prideful that they dig in their heels instead of just saying, "woah, I didn't realize!" because it's just too painful to admit that they may have been wrong about something.

Sorry but they do not help. It doesn't matter if you think they help, because they don't. They don't do anything. There is no mechanism by which wearing a bracelet around your wrist will reduce sea sickness. Sea sickness gets better with acclimation, so most people naturally starts feeling relief after a period of time. This is true whether you wear a bracelet, click your heels three times while repeating "there's no place like home," or do nothing at all. SEA BANDS DO NOTHING. I am genuinely sorry you don't understand that.

There are people out there who believe that homeopathic "medicine" works, and they swear by it even when it's just plain water. The fact that they've deluded themselves into thinking that that stuff works doesn't make it real medicine.

6rugrats, your post makes zero sense. A fake brand name purse still functions as a purse. Vanilla extract still imparts a flavor to what you are baking. Sea sickness bands do not help seasickness. No it's not dangerous, but why on earth would anyone recommend them for seasickness, which they do not help?

I really don't care to keep having this stupid argument about sea bands over and over again, but I don't think giving money to a company that is knowingly scamming you while choosing a scam/placebo product over real medication that will actually be genuinely effective (and more effective) is a good idea. But if people want to be idiots and buy them knowing they're fake, that's their prerogative.

Any advice on Sea bands ?

 

 

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They don't do anything. Their claims about "pressure points" are total bunk and any perceived benefit from using them is just the placebo effect.

Easy to do on Quantum class, but not so much on the other ships which don't have that convenient washing station right at the entrance of WJ.

Okay...when I say "regular hand washing," I don't mean "washing your hands before and after every single activity and scheduling your whole life around it." Just...wash your hands a couple times throughout the day?