jsn55

Bottom line for me is that all men look handsome and debonair in a black tuxedo. Assuming it fits, of course!

Never allow a third party to do your air is always my advice!! I am totally allergic to stress over travel bookings. Unless it's your trusted Travel Advisor (who you can reach 24/7) no bargain/discount is ever worth it. Very happy to hear this all worked out for you.

OMG, that's RIGHT! So happy to never have had to deal with any of that. Thanks for the chuckle.

Love this, Lois! Made my evening. You sound like someone I'd love to cruise with!!

As it should be. One of the delights of cruising is to get all dressed up for dinner, or just brush your hair, tuck in your shirt and go have a lovely meal served by crew that are happy to see you. All of us can be comfortable.

I am guessing that the cruiselines could do a better job of cooperating and not overwhelming ports on certain days. If not, we get bans and inconvenience. Kinda sad.

Have low expectations. Then everything will be delightful. At least that works for me most of the time. Exceptions are Princess, American Cruiselines, and Viking. My one Princess cruise was probably OK, but I was so angry about the non-functioning medallion that it colored the whole cruise. My husband was not well, and I slaved away before the cruise to make things smooth for him. I had very little hair left when we boarded. American Cruiselines and Viking in China were downright impossible. The rest have all been fine, and some in the distant past were spectacular.

I also look at 'whats in port'. An extra bonus to knowing this stuff is that I like to watch other ships come and go, so I know when they're departing or arriving.

I dunno ... if he's wearing jockey shorts and has nice legs, perhaps that will be acceptable.

As we said when we were kids ... "I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count". I think it would be a very bad gamble, especially since you already have seasick issues. Rather say this now than having to commiserate with you after a miserable time on the waters around Norway in October. There are thousands of choices out there for another great Scandinavian trip.

A snob is just an insecure human. They are pathetic, to be pitied and dismissed. I am grateful to this thread so I can lose my 'fear' of booking a luxury cruiseline. Thanks, guys!

This former Minnesota farm girl has always stayed clear of the 'luxe' lines for the same reason. We stopped cruising on Grand Circle's small ships because of the plethora of retired 'educators' who dominated the dinner tables with their tiresome opinions. But that was a long time ago. I am delighted to read these responses that my outlook is probably wrong. We sailed Queen Victoria in Norway a few years ago and I just loved her 'real elegance' with little snobbery evident. And she was just about the same price as the usual 'mass market' ships. I will broaden my searches in the future. It's a simple matter to calculate the true cost of a cruise. Thank you all.

Thank you for this ... I love these kinds of assorted goodies boards. Plus truffles, oh my. Why this casual dining thing is such a mystery is beyond me. Good news: it's included in your package. Bad news: we won't tell you what, where or when. CC to the rescue, again!

For ocean cruising, 2K pax size is fine with me; Cunard's Queen Victoria to Norway was a wonderful experience, except for some less than stellar crew in the bars and shore excursion desk. I tried NCL Epic last fall in the Med, believe she carries more than 4K. Would not have been a crowd problem, but the ship's public spaces are poorly designed and created those crowds. Easy to avoid but can be annoying. The itinerary was wonderful and I don't regret my choice. I think you have to really envision your experience before you board. On a ship the size of Epic, you don't expect to just stroll off when you reach a port; you don't dine when everyone else is hungry, you know to schedule a ship's excursion if port time is tight in order to avoid the crowds (more or less). Cruising is a business, people are looking for the cheapest anything, they love the bells & whistles ... so mega ships will be with us until the business plan no longer makes sense. I'll always prefer a European river cruise, but sometimes the budget just won't stretch that far.

No doubt there will be all kinds of SEs, they're just not formulated yet. What I can heartily recommend for Roma is a golf cart tour. It was a fabulous way to see everything up close while having a ball. I booked it through Viator. We were incredibly fortunate to have a high school history teacher as our driver and he was delighted that we were so fascinated with everything. A super afternoon in Roma!

For six adults, check out a driver with a van. Probably not a whole lot more expensive than renting 2-3 'cars'. Just a thought. Our party of two adults did a Med Cruise last October and hired drivers for the day in Marseille and Catania. Made it clear that we didn't need a 'real guide', just someone who knew the area and could communicate in English. We had a reason to splurge (limo and driver about $700 plus tip, a little less in Catania), and it was a real eye-opener for the sheer convenience and comfort. The drivers both turned out to be very knowledgeable and delighted to just drive two happy people around. We both got SO MUCH out of those days because we were able to fully absorb what we were seeing ... and stop wherever we wished. I just handed the driver a list of the 'sights' we'd like to see, told him we wanted to stop somewhere quick for lunch (no bad food in France or Italy!) , and what time we wanted to be back to the ship. It was heaven.

You're right, DanJ. I was counting on peoples' common sense to 'do it right', a major failing of mine.

I'm a Lutheran Buddhist, so ignore this post if might be offensive. Ashes, or 'cremains' as they are now called, are heavy. I'd forego anything formal, take a very small amount with you and scatter them without a container somewhere that appeals to you.

If you've never been, that whole area is utterly fascinating. And if you have a REAL sense of adventure, rent a car and 'go see everything'. Florence is Florence, everybody goes there, but seeing the Italian countryside and the small towns and making up your own schedule is heaven. And, as a bonus, driving in Italy is the ultimate thrill ride! Whatever you decide, you can be sure it will be wonderful, as long as you do your research.

A perfect example of why one needs to read the information published about your cruise, your insurance, your flights ... TA or no. If I'm going to lay out $650 for trip insurance, you can bet that I'll understand it all before I buy it. And I'll stash all the information on my laptop in case of disaster during the trip. Your 'at home' emergency contact needs to know all this information as well. Once you've experienced a huge medical issue while travelling, you realize how dangerous it could be for lackadaisical people who don't bother understanding it all.

I shudder to think that 'some people' might have an issue with another pax using the back of their seat to help walking to the lav. This takes self-absorption to a new level. Quite appalling. I applaud the person with an injury or handicap for 'getting out there' and travelling.

If you're going to 'lose everything', and if she can weight-bear, and you have a cabin with elevator service, I urge you to buy a chair and crutches ... and take the cruise. The challenges will be numerous and sometimes really difficult. Both of you can make up your minds that you'll have the best time you possibly can. There will be lots of opportunities for her to get out and do things. And being on a river boat all day would not be the end of the world; assuming she has books and can watch a movie, use her tablet/laptop. I'm sure your family members will pitch in to help her. It's rotten luck, but please don't give up until the very last minute!

Seems quite obvious to me that a ship should not extend charging privileges at all to someone who doesn't cooperate with the rules. Right from the minute they board and can't produce a valid card, they should not be allowed to drink and spend on extras. They should be informed immediately that they cannot charge anything to their cabin until the problem is solved, not six days later. At least the ship won't be absorbing the no-doubt flagrant purchases of the deadbeats. The cruise itself is already paid for, so let pax deal with the problem they've caused. But if the cruiseline is that sensitive to 'criticism and social media', their method of handling these deadbeats is certainly the ship's choice. We need more 'follow the rules or face the punishment' these days.

This sounds like the best of both worlds!!

I'm laughing ... encountering trashy people is exactly what I'm concerned about! I think I will do my socializing in the bars so I can just disappear to another venue if needed.