frchteaze

I am on the Norwegian Pearl right now, and I know there is a lot of "family" on board, but we've been going to the Friends of Dorothy meetings every night and nobody else is there. Do people not know what FOD means?

Last summer when I was on the X Mercury, there were FOD meetings almost every day, but they were either while we were in port or at dinner, so I couldn't go to any. I was disappointed, but at least they offered them!

Frchteaze,

 

Which cruise are you going on in 10 months? I am going to the Mexican Riviera in October with Olivia.

I'm going on the R Family Vacations one (the Rosie cruise). It's also on the HAL Oosterdam. Same cruise as yours, just a different group of folks.

It's expensive, but probably no more so than Olivia. I hear Olivia is great, but I'm taking my mom with me and I think I'll like the greater diversity of RFV. We'll see in 10 months if the extra $$ is worth it. From what I read on the RFV boards, I'm gonna love it!

I live in Albuquerque. I finally got sick of the humidity in Florida and moved West.

Wow! Small world. Too bad the ships don't dock in the Rio Grande! ;)

(I just love it when I venture into the big ol' WWW and find somebody in my backyard!)

Hi y'all,

 

Has anyone taken the White Pass Scenic Railway excursion? I was wondering which side of the train is best to sit on?

 

Winnie

I went on the White Pass last May on my cruise to Alaska. It is the left side of the train on the way up (best time to view because the train goes slower). When you get to the top, you flip your seats over so that you're still in the same seat but now you're on the opposite side. If for some reason you can't get on the left side, you'll still be able to see the scenery on the way down, just take fast pics because the train won't slow for photo ops.

We were about 3 cars from the back and it was the best because the guy at the front would say what photo op was coming and we had time to prepare. We even saw a bear sh*tting in the woods. I kid you not. (Probably the only reason he stood still!) :D

I don't have a preference on whether or not we cruise with Pied Piper.

 

However, after looking at their website, they are mainly geared toward gay men instead of lesbians.

So is this message board, but we've done just fine taking that over! ;)

We probably won't be able to do summer of 2008, since we're doing the big Rosie cruise in March '08, but I vote for Caribbean first, Canada/New England second, Bermuda third (just in case I can swing another cruise!).

I drive Missy nut's with all my planning when we cruise. But she always enjoys the finish project. I do so much reading on the boards on everthing to how to save money to which private company to book our shore trips. Why leave things to chance when you have cruise critic to learn from.

 

Have fun,

Shan9700:)

I love that. I do the same thing to my partner and she's quite happy to have all the details worked out for her. There was a thread quite a while back on one of the other boards (started by planners of course) about planning vs. not planning and the differences between couples. I think regardless of whether you're gay or straight, one thing is constant -- some of us love to plan and some love to be planned for. ;)

If you're headed to the Mexican Riveria try the Zip Lines in Puerto Vallarta. Vallarta Adventures is not a cruise line excursion but by far the best zip line out there and you can book it online. Other excursion suggestions are: Cabo - Snorkel/Sail to Santa Maria Cove; Ixtapia - Swim with the Dolphins. We do the Cabo sail each time we're there and love it!!!

Diane & Lori

What is the Cabo sail? I haven't heard of that one yet (but I'm just starting my research). I've already planned on Vallarta Adventures for the zip line. Our cruise is skipping Ixtapa and going to Mazatlan instead. Any advice for that port? Mazatlan Frank looks good, but he requires 6 people minimum and there's only going to be 3 of us. My mom just can't pass up a cruise to anywhere :rolleyes:.

Have any of you ever been on an Rfamily cruise? They are awesome...a bit pricey but I think very much worth it. We have done 3 and going on our 4th this summer. If you want more info send me an email Poohbl@aol.com

Are you going on the one to Mexico?

I wanted to do the Bermuda one, but the timing wasn't good this year because of work. I know it's early to be excited, but I've been wanting to go on the Rfamily cruises since the very first one and just haven't been able to until now.

My parents are going on HAL in May, how was the weather then?

It wasn't great, but it wasn't that bad either. Us desert dwellers usually find cooler weather a vacation all in itself. ;)

I don't remember it really raining in any of the ports, but it was overcast most of the days and rained a little on sea days. Also cool, but not freezing.

Research queen that I am, I followed the advice around here to layer and leave the heavy coat at home, and I was glad I did. T-shirt and sweatshirt with jeans or sweatpants was fine in port and on the ship (even sitting outside like us smokers are known to do). A lot of people wore shorts indoors. The only day I really even used the gloves, scarf, and hat was for the glacier viewing. It was bitter cold that morning with strong winds, plus the glacier breeze.

I got a cold the 2nd day on the ship and had it the entire time, but kept trudging along, and I still wasn't too bothered by the weather. We did hit rocky seas several days. Not too rough, but my partner was glad she brough along the bonine. I saw a lot of patches behind ears at dinner time.

frchteaze, we did Celebrity to Alaska in August last year. What ship were you on?

We were on the Mercury over Memorial Day. It was fairly crowded, but not too bad. We loved the ship and the cruiseline. Personally, I loved Celebrity's traditional style dining, but my partner prefers anything she doesn't have to dress up for. We were hoping the Rosie cruise would stay with Norwegian because of the anytime dining, but it looks like it's going to be HAL for us next, which I hear is pretty similar to Celebrity.

How did you like Alaska? I thought it was absolutely gorgeous!

Wow, what a great thread! It's so good to see the girls finally getting together. We should have thought of this a long time ago. :D

My partner and I took our very first cruise on Celebrity to Alaska in May of last year and instantly fell in love with cruising. My mom's been telling me about it for years, and now I know what she's talking about.

We have another cruise planned in March 2008 with the RFamily Vacations to Mexico. It's quite a bit more than the mainstream cruises, but it will be our 10th anniversary, so we decided to splurge. We'll see if we think the extra cost is worth it.

The Celebrity cruise was fantastic, but we thought it might be nice to try a more "friendly" environment. Olivia just didn't seem right for us -- we're really not the dance-all-night partying type, and we like mingling with all types of people.

Keep up the good ideas for a cruise in the future! I'm sure we'll be ready for another one as soon as the bank accounts recover from the 2008 one. :eek: