donaldsc
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Everything posted by donaldsc
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Binocular Strength/Size Recommendation - Expedition Cruise
donaldsc replied to blurrededge's topic in Antarctica
Here is the problem w most of the cruise line supplied binocs - they are 100% total junk. I did a cruise last year in AK and the supplied binocs were $200 + name brand Nikon binocs and there were 2 in the cabin since there were 2 of us in the cabin. They were excellent. The ship even had a bunch of spotting scopes scattered around the ship which were priced on Amazon at $300. I just came off an equally expensive Viking expedition cruise and the binoculars they had were about $20 and worse than useless. If binoculars are important to you you have to bring good ones with you don't count on the ship supplied ones. DON -
What port? What airport? DON
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What gifts do you bring back for family?
donaldsc replied to Sandie5's topic in Ask a Cruise Question
Rocks. We have a granddaughter who collects minerals and crystals. Other than that nothing for anyone else. We used to waste to much time looking for gifts. No longer. DON -
My comment is that the OP requested that HAL do something that is outside of their normal policy and then the OP is complaining that HAL will not do it. Then they expect some sympathy from the rest of us. Sorry but not from me. Why would they expect to be allowed early disembarkation and did they check to see if they were going to be allowed before they booked the cruise. DON
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I can see why the OP might have made the mistake that she did. If you go onto the Virgin WEB site it shows that there is a pool on one of the decks but there are no pictures or anything to show how big the pool is. DON
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Townships and or villages seen from the ship on an Alaskan cruise?
donaldsc replied to Candycane10's topic in Alaska
I may be misunderstanding your question but what is the point of looking at and taking pictures of villages as you cruise past them out at sea. What would you see? DON -
While I would not personally take a cruisetour and I have taken a number of AK trips - I disagree with the OP's comments. If you read the many comments on CC about AK cruisetours many many people have taken them and most of the people seem to be satisfied by them. I suggest that the OP did not read the detailed description of what was promised and obviously expected something different from what he got. DON
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I am not bashing NCL. I have not sailed NCL. I am also not a "NCL can do no wrong" person. However I can do the math. 1. Is NCL adding $2 per drink regardless of whether it is an alcoholic beverage at $10 cost per drink or a can of soda at $4 per drink. Yes or no? If "no" ignore the rest of this post. If "yes" continue to the next question. 2. Is the sales tax at the locality about 8%. If so the sales tax on a can of soda should be 32 cents and the sales tax on the alcoholic beverage should be 80 cents. 3. If the answer to the 2 questions are "yes" then NCL is overcharging soda by $1.68 and the alcoholic beverage by $1.20. Seems simple to me. Where am I wrong and if I am wrong I apologize for wronging NCL. DON
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Probably mostly true but not always. We did a HAL cruise a while back which stopped at several places in Greenland. I know that the fish we had that night was fresh as I was on the tender coming back to the ship w kitchen staff who were bringing the fresh fish back to the ship that we were going to have for dinner that night. Can't be more fresh than that. DON
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Is the problems in Haiti disrupting Caribbean cruises?
donaldsc replied to Bridget2's topic in Ask a Cruise Question
My mistake. I misread the map. The question still applies however. Historically the Dominican Republic has always been a reasonably stable country and Haiti is always been a total mess since the day it was created in spite of everything the Western Hemisphere has tried to do to help them. DON -
Lets assume the typical drink costs $10. Let's also assume that the sales tax is a ridiculous 10%. That means that the sales tax should be $1 and not the $2 that NCL is charging. What are they doing w the extra $1. That isn't NCL bashing. It is calling it what it really is - NCL nickel and diming. DON
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Is the problems in Haiti disrupting Caribbean cruises?
donaldsc replied to Bridget2's topic in Ask a Cruise Question
Haiti shares an island w Hispaniola. Are any of the troubles in Haiti spilling over to Hispaniola? DON -
Advice on most suitable cruise Adults only
donaldsc replied to Tractor-Boy's topic in Ask a Cruise Question
How about a week on a sailboat - https://www.starclippers.com/us-dom/destinations/caribbean-sailing-cruises.html. We did 2 weeks on the Star Flyer, It was great. Absolutely no kids at all. https://www.starclippers.com/us-dom/our-fleet/tall-ships/star-flyer.html DON -
I was one of the people who made that suggestion. As a follow up perhaps you could find the WEB sites business in Ushuaia and call them and ask them. Don't e-mail them but actually call them. Phone calls are cheap. DON
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We did a Thanksgiving cruise with the family a few years back because that was when the grandkids were off school. Awful. My comment on the Thanksgiving turkey dinner that they served is that if you remember Swanson frozen TV dinners - they were better than what we got on the ship. DON
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Ilulissat and Disko Bay, Greenland + Iceland?
donaldsc replied to GeezerCouple's topic in Iceland and Greenland
Quark..https://www.quarkexpeditions.com/expeditions/gems-of-west-greenland-fjords-icebergs-and-culture#departures. DON -
I sailed on the Ocean Adventurer a few years ago. A wonderful ship although I think that this is her last year w Quark. I will add this to the people who have spoken of the value of the years of experience and size of the expedition staff that Quark has over almost every other Antarctica outfit in the business. You also have to consider the backgrounds of the staff. On my Quark cruise one of the staff members was a Russian who served for several years as chief of Russia's Vostok Station in Antarctica - look it up in Wikipedia. The stories he told and the experiences he had were great although he was not there and would not discuss the Vostok Station murder. Of it were me I would go with Quark. There are some very good travel agencies out there that do just Antarctica cruises. I worked w one of them when I picked my South Georgia Island trip. However according to CC rules you will have to find the right one yourself as we are not allowed to recommend any travel agencies. DON
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Data Plan While On Shore in Honduras, Belize and Mexico
donaldsc replied to opus2002's topic in Ask a Cruise Question
What I wander about is why you can't manage w/o WiFi for a day especially since you will have WiFi once you get back to the ship. DON -
As a side note - if your TA either can't or won't find out for you I would fire that TA and never use them again. DON
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I reported the post to the moderator. DON
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Carnival trying to crack down on scooters
donaldsc replied to mamafun's topic in Ask a Cruise Question
According to what I read recently they are going to actually measure the size of the scooter before people are allowed to board. If it is too big they will not be allowed to board. About time. Hope that they have the guts to continue the policy and ignore the outcries of the scooter lobby. DON