mamma0233

We have received flowers from our TA on several cruises. Had several when the man surprised me with a vow renewal.

I've been advising friends and family from Seattle to avoid at all costs any itinerary that coincides with the gigantic new Norwegian Bliss and Joy. Think they mostly leave on the weekend. Our Alaska cruise with HAL last year was a Monday departure and it was perfect. We were never in port with the insanity of mega ships in the small ports! After four cruises finally got to get into and enjoy the Red Dog Saloon! Just a note.

We did the 89 night Grand Asia last fall...it was magical and I cried the last 3 days saying good-bye to all the wonderful "kids" who became like family. Mail was forwarded to our daughter, voted before we left, and had our master bath redone while we were gone so had, trusted, people in and out of our house the whole time. Just be sure you have all your daily "stuff"...meds, eye-drops, moisturizer, etc. with you. I packed 25 thin felted hangers and had our stewards remove the big wooden ones, made a huge difference in closet space. We took full advantage of all the dining options, loved lunch at the Pinnacle and Sunday Brunch at sea in the MDR. Never got bored with the food, did lots of room service. We both actually lost a little weight because of all the walking we did. Enjoy..it's addicting.

Virtually every shop on every stop of your cruise will offer a variety of smoked salmon to ship home...no worries.

Kudos to you for helping your parents! First cruises are amazingly stressful.. best advice, tell them to book open dining and try the MDR the first night and see if they connect with people at a table for 10. If not, they can request a table for 2 after that, if they have a balcony tell them to wander down and take pictures of the MDR menu....order dinner off of that!