misty57

Excellent! Thanks so much for the suggestions. :)

I'm thinking that since this will likely be the most scenic and wildlife focused trip we have taken, I should upgrade my camera and pick up an additional set of binoculars.

My little canon slim camera does a terrible job, but I don't really want something with different lenses and such.

What magnification should I get for the binoculars? We are going on a seaplane glacier tour, dog sledding excursion, train excursion in Skagway, and an evening whale watching cruise.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! We are going toward the end of August and I'm starting to think about shopping.:D

Thanks so much!

I thought I had seen discounts for teachers as well as firefighters, military etc.

It's a nice way to thank the people who make our society a better place. My daughter is a teacher and I understand now what a thankless profession it can be at times (and the monetary compensation isn't always so great either).

I hope you get a great discount!

I no longer use a TA for a routine cruise. In the past I have asked for help with any price drops and was told "well if I can".. yeah. I can do without any additional perks but I would always know more about the cruise, ship and cabins than the TA, and she really had little to do for whatever commission she received. In fact, I often book onboard and I had to go to her to get my documents and she wouldn't even notify me that she had them. I found cheaper flights and better and cheaper accommodations by my own research. All I really expected when I used the agent from this large agency was the courtesy of a follow up phone call from her, which she didn't do until oh about a year later when I didn't contact her about another cruise that I was planning.

So no, I don't think you are being petty. It's kind of a common gesture to thank you for your business.

We are also booked at Sleep Inn and with Seattle express for August. I'm glad to hear such great reviews for both. I understand they also make complimentary shuttles to a near by mall which will be great for dinner night before and night after the cruise.

My understanding is that you can request to dine with others on MTD or alone. I am excited to try this dining arrangement since we have had some not so pleasant experiences lately. Sometimes we want to be finished with dinner earlier so we can catch a show or something. Sometimes we are not hungry until later, so it will be nice not to be tied down to an earlier time. Conversation sometimes makes dinner very prolonged. I don't intend to dread going to dinner ever again!

Not my cup of tea, but other people do like him. He must be doing something right if they use him as CD on the newest ships. I don't book a cruise with concern over who the CD is.

It's a nice gesture. I don't like the dried fruit but I always like the cookies.

:)

I find the roll calls helpful at times for excursion information as well as hotel and transportation suggestions. I have stopped posting to some roll calls when it is overtaken by a clique of people who act annoyed when someone else "interrupts" with a comment or question. There are other threads that are helpful for information, and I have no desire to join a gift exchange or t shirt group either.

What about doctors? I think they get paid less.

After awhile most careers top out. It has to! As far as MD's they also do less so I don't feel sorry. I know of a neurosurgeon who complained that he would not be able to retire because of the increases costs of maintaining his second home etc.. Whahhh. The staff on cruise ships work long hours waiting on people who make tens of thousands more than they do and they depend mostly on their tips.i just consider the tips part of the cost of cruising, and the occasional poor performer gets blessed along with the good ones but it all works out. :)

Misty57, I'm like you am THANKFUL at the age of 71 (everyone tells me I don't look this age :)), I am STILL working for a large corporate office. Every week it is nothing to see 5 - 10 people coming into our office for interviews. I'm just GLAD I'm not one of them. SMILE- Yes, one of the reasons I am STILL working is because of the insurance, and I can tell it is NOT paying like it used to, but since my husband has been retired for a looooooooooong time, I feel we need the insurance. I am planning on retiring this year, but when???? I like my vacation of a month too. :)

Yup... But I am in healthcare, and although I can't complain too much about my pay rate, it is not a pleasant environment to work in. I think a lot of workplaces are like this with different generations trying to work together. I feel that we are often at the mercy of some younger administrative types that have to constantly reinvent the wheel and come up with " new" improvements to our work flow. I know from experience that it will usually fall apart and then be "rediscovered" by someone else in a few years. I just keep plodding along and keep my goals doable. I've been in my profession for 37 years practically nonstop. Wish I had the smarts early on to live waaay below my income. I will likely keep doing some work on a very part time level as long as I can... But hopefully not caring for train wrecks like I do now.:p

I rather them just play this song so we know right away so you know it's not an upgrade.

 

Yes!!!! This always puts a smile on my face... First song on my playlist since our last cruise where it was played every night in the theater.:D

We feel extremely fortunate that we did not have to consider medical insurance in our decision to retire at 58. I realize through friends and former colleagues that this can be a significant impediment to early retirement.

 

We feel extremely fortunate to have single payer, gov't insurance. My DB pension provides out of country for up to 60 days.

I have come to regret carrying our health insurance through my employer for the last 29 years, as now with DH's health history and our ages it would not be feasible to get private insurance. That means at the minimum, I work for the insurance ( and cruising:D) Now my employer is talking about having high deductibles. :eek:That is all well and good if you are 21 years old and healthy as a horse and not sick of working! Ok, taking deep breaths. 8 more years full time.

It's funny that I never counted the years at the beginning of my career, and when the paycheck arrived each time I was like " oh yeah I get paid to do this". Now I have the pay dates marked on the calendar and the credit union number stored in my phone. I am thankful to be employed though, as many would give their eye teeth to have the job that I have. Just looking forward to being a little less structured. :cool:

I overlooked the point that the Atlantis tour included a dolphin swim. Those are expensive no matter where you go, but some are better than others. Some are enclosed in a pool while others are more open waters if that matters to you. You might consider checking the price on those type of excursions in St Thomas or St Martin. We did one in Roatan that was fabulous but it did cost about $100 pp.

First ask yourself what you really want to do... do you want to snorkel? Choose a snorkel excursion. If you like the beach... Orient Beach in St Martin

If you would like to just get an overview of the islands take an island tour. Shopping? Catch a taxi to town but avoid the time wasting port of call lecture on the ship. We took a taxi to Atlantis and purchased a tour there. It was ok... there are different prices for different levels of access. I wouldn't take the ship excursion there, just like I wouldn't take a shopping excursion if the shopping area is accessible by taxi for a reasonable cost.

You say you are a college student.. are you going alone? If so I would try to connect with others on your sailing ( check out roll call).Sometimes people will have private tours booked and need more people to fill in. Those have been some of our best excursions. I would avoid going alone in St Thomas.

Viewing it now.

Thanks for the review. We are on the Indy next February so it's good to hear what is good and what isn't. It doesn't sound like you had a very good time though. We have been on this class of ship several times although not this particular ship. Each RCI ship has it's own personality for sure... even if in the same class. I think you might like the Oasis class. The entertainment is set up differently and the casual dining is better e.g. made to order salads and sandwiches in the Park Café. How was the service in the MDR? Did they run out of anything that you noticed?

Oh, and in case you sail Royal again, you have to ask for the ice bucket and ice to be delivered when you meet your cabin steward the first day. We usually have no problem getting ice twice a day although that is usually the only request we have of our attendant. :D

On the ship I keep mine in my pocket or a small purse I sometimes carry. On the ship In the pool or hot tub I just keep it in my beach bag within my line of vision. I've never had a problem.I don't care to wear it around my neck:D

Get ready to shop!!! It's more fun shopping for girl clothes!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Ah yes! One word... Gymboree!!

Congratulations to all on well deserved retirement ! I have 8 years but feel like I want to count down since I think about retirement every day :)

Does anyone know of a good countdown app? Trying to have a good attitude about the time I have left but it's hard when others are leaving and have the freedom to travel when they like. Any suggestions on preparation? Looking forward to the time we can grab a last minute deal and cruise whenever for as long as we can afford it!

We've enjoyed the MDR experience in years past, but we have found that especially on the large ships like Oasis that table mates at assigned seating are not consistently present because of all the other dining options. We too like to have a special dinner in Chops or Giovanni's, and feel that those who are at our table in the MDR are annoyed at our absence. On one shorter cruise we skipped dinner because we had a very late lunch and one night dined in the WJ. We were given a very cold shoulder from most of the table mates when we did come back to the MDR the following nights. In resent years we have found ourselves less than thrilled with the assigned table mates, not that they were offensive ( except for the non US citizens who felt that dinner was the time to tell everyone what was wrong with the US and who THEY wanted to win the presidential election..sigh.) but we had nothing at all in common and they were almost stilted in conversation. We have really enjoyed talking with most of the people we have met in the MDR for breakfast, or in DH's case sitting on a bench in port waiting for me to finish shopping :D. In fact, last cruise while in Cozumel, I noticed him chatting ( do men chat?) with another guy and I just kept shopping because he seemed to be enjoying his conversation so much.

Just saying that we are trying MTD on our next vacations, and hope that it improves the experience. I don't like dreading dinner because of the company. I think that RCI is probably noticing a change in passenger preferences and addressing the trend.

We have always enjoyed the cookies on each RCI ship. They have excellent sugar free cookies as well. My fav are the peanut butter. On our recent Navigator cruise except for once or twice when they had a few oatmeal cookies, all the cookies were chocolate chip.:confused: then again, they did run out of lots of things on the 2/23 sailing.

I checked out their website and it all looks great. My only issue is that you don't see the hotel names prior to booking, so how do you know if you are at a hotel you want, or in the area close to the port?

We are cruising out of Fort Lauderdale the end of November and unlike other ports (for example Port Canaveral), there are not many hotels who offer the stay and cruise package where you can leave your car for the duration of your cruise.

One thing that I have done to narrow down the identity of the hotel is to look at the pictures posted.Sometimes the picture of the lobby or the conference rooms will actually show the name;). I also will look up hotels on Tripadvisor and compare the pictures. If LMT will tell you the name then of course that would be easier, but I kind of like the detective work:D

Three families traveling together. 6 Adults and 5 Children (4 are 9 years old and 1 will be almost 5).

 

Can't decide between the following cruises for January 2015:

 

5 Day Disney Wonder: $2500 Outside Cabin for 4

7 Day RCCL Freedom: $3000 Outside Cabin for 4

8 Day RCCL Freedom: $3400 Outside Cabin for 4

 

Your opinions and experiences are welcomed.

 

Thanks

We have been on freedom class ships several times. They are really great for kids. No experience with Disney, but it would depend on where the cruise goes and how long you really want to be gone. I am sure the Disney cruise is fabulous too, so just pick !

A little reading on the board would reveal towncars and taxis are about the same price, $45 or so.

I have been perusing this board since September. The cost of the taxi has been discussed but not clearly from airport hotel to pier. Lots of chatter about downtown hotels though, which we had originally planned on . I don't get the irritability with questions that may have been asked before. I used the search function and it didn't give me the information that I wanted, so I posted on this thread since the question was somewhat related. Big thanks to the person that did answer my question with information about flatrateforhire.

Traveling to an unfamiliar city is to me like trying to find my way in the dark, just like the person who has never before taken a taxi. Thank goodness for helpful people on CC and for sites like Tripadvisor. Have a blessed day:)