cruiselvr04

We did not have a transfer included because we came in a day early. I think we could have requested one. We returned the car to the airport ( it’s only a mile or so away) the night we met with the cruise tour guide. DH had not arranged it but asked at the Royal desk at the airport and they put him in a shuttle back to Sophie Station without charge.

When traveling internationally it’s best to do a search for the particular country you are flying into. It will actually list what’s allowed to bring in. Some say only 3 days of narcotics per person for example and these must be in properly labeled container. I knew when flying into Europe a few years ago this was the requirement. I made sure to follow the rules. Keep anything like a narcotic (that class of drugs) on you or in a safe. Never leave them in a hotel room or out in your cabin. I had some taken by a maid once in Denver. It was in a bag, not sitting out. I couldn’t prove it but I had counted them and knew 2 were missing. Lesson learned.

We did Maya Key last time. However I’ve found on Roatan the sand flees are so bad. Was infinity ok? No bites? We are taking our kids and grands on a cruise here in June. I want to take them someplace they won’t get eaten alive. I’ve been bitten so badly on water island off St Thomas that I had to visit the ship doc for steroids.

Taking pics is a great idea! We take them in little plastic bags made for this purpose. Then if we want to take them with a meal we just take them along. Meds we take only as needed or just in case that are prescription are in little bags with the original label on them. DH has alot if these. If you're in the Caribbean, no big deal. But if you're flying internationally you want the label on the meds. I've never had an issue with not in original bottles but little bags all have the original label.

I've seen a few ships not open the Windjammer until 11:30. But don't worry. You won't starve.

I hope you’re wrong. We sail in about 2 months through the canal.

People will always pay for suites who have it. We have been cutting back on on board expenses and booking lesser cabins as prices rise. We pay our gratuities because we don’t want to hurt the workers. But all the rest we can do without as it becomes unreasonable. Including pizza if it comes to that.

We are taking a 11 year old next summer. He’ll be with an adult all the time. He will not be able to sign himself out of AO. The 14 year old may come and go and he may take the 9 and 11 year old for pizza etc. as long as they stay together. You know your kids. You are ultimately responsible for them even if you’re not with them. I’ve seen a lot on ships, kids who had no business running around alone or even 2 younger ones together. I wouldn’t let ours loose in the mall alone so why would I do so on a ship. I might have yelled at one 2 weeks ago who almost knocked me down running blindly around a corner. They are kids who are excited who lose their heads on a ship. I get that. But a parent with them would have hopefully told them to slow down. He almost got a martini dumped on his head but I saved it. The martini, not the kid.

We average one slice per cruise. No we wouldn’t pay for it. It’s ridiculous to even put that out there. Some body is really greedy.

Great, I found it! AMA has a little tougher cancellation policy and of course bigger deposits than Viking right now. DH and I will have to discuss what we want to do. Going with AMA I’d need to insure the deposit as with the airfare it’s about $3100 to book. But waiting to pay final until the end of next year works better for us. I want someone to guide us through, keep us as safe as possible and I think any of the lines do that. For us, river cruises are more about travel and immersion while oceans I want some luxury. The u tube guy who reviewed his recently had no big complaints except the noise level in his room with AMA.

I’m actually looking at Feb or March of 2026 for Egypt. I’ve ruled out Viking ( we’ve done them before) because of their final payment so far in advance. I’ll look at scenic and AMA instead as 4-6 months out I’m comfortable with. I need to do more research on which one to choose so we can be ready. Viking for 2025 is almost booked out. I do want to add Petra but I didn’t see that with AMA so I’ll look again. Whoever posted the meds they took, thank you. DH already has issues. I carry Cipro, Vancomycin and Flagyl for certain possibilities whenever we travel but will discuss this trip with his GI doc before we go. I’d like to go prepared. If you’ve gone before I have a question. We normally fly in a day before we start our trips. If we did this we’d be on our own. This doesn’t sound like a good option as we’d have to get our own transportation even if we stayed at the hotel we were to start from. Do we just risk the travel as arranged by the river cruise line and hope for no cancellations or delays? Jet lag is an issue also.

I finished 18 months ago. You can do this! One treatment at a time.

We are hoping to go to the Antarctic center. Any ideas how to get there? Taxi? The cruise line has a bus excursion but we’d like to go on our own to spend more time there.

It must be a Dallas thing. We waited for months once for a bill. It never came. So DH just sends a check quarterly although he recently upped it to $40 a week just to be nice and yes we always take out cold water. Mowing in 100 degree heat can’t be fun. If they trim the bushes he adds some.

I can understand your disappointment. Our complete transit changed twice after booking and dropped at least 2 ports of call. It sold out right away though and for the price we got it at, we accepted the changes.

Even if her parents book suites that’s still about 90 days a years in her short life on a ship. I’m only jealous because I wouldn’t have had to cook or clean up after her. Having just been with the littles it was breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner.

We were on Radiance the last week in July. Our ship got very close to the glacier. The ice had melted even from the previous week. So I do think it depends too on when you go. While I like Ovation, Radiance has more windows and places to take in the beauty of Alaska. If not in our cabin or balcony I enjoyed sitting in the champagne bar just watching the scenery. Ovation would be better for families who want a lot to do. (DH did complain that the windows were hazy from salt but it didn’t bother me.)

We just got back from 2 weeks in Alaska, last 2 weeks in July. I know weather is hit and miss. We had a total rain out in Juneau, cold at the glacier and found the interior of Alaska warmer than than the cruise. I’m not sure we had a day over 72. We wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if it had been colder. We took jackets, raincoats and sweatshirts. Most days started in the 50’s. We took shorts but never wore them. I used gloves on whales watches and the glacier. ( We spent over 2 hours right at the front of the ship at the glacier and the wind was really cold. If you stayed on your balcony while the ship spun it would be warmer.) Since it was over 100 in Texas the whole time we were gone we enjoyed it. To help you answer the question I think anytime is great, just take enough warm and cold clothing so you’re prepared. Raincoats, in my opinion, were a must. We stayed dry on a hike while it rained the entire time. We were also thankful for waterproof high tops for DH and Sperrys for me.

We have to fly regardless and with Southwest it’s easy to buy 2 one way tickets. We just did that for our Panama Canal cruise. I do want to stay 2-3 nights in Boston post cruise and see the sights. Since you’re from the area how many days should we plan to see the main historic sights of Boston?

We booked a B2B on Grandeur going to the southern Caribbean and then to Greenland. It will be interesting packing. We hope to see the Northern lights and get to Greenland without the expensive and long flight to Europe. We considered the last leg of the world cruise but decided on these 2. I’m hoping it will still be beautiful and know it will be cold!

Is the San Diego port like this too? Tents?

I want to try Hooked. It looks great! I’m way behind and not sure I’ll catch up…we did our Alaska cruise tour which was awesome. We got home a week ago and since then we’ve had our littlest grands 2 and 5, while their parents got an anniversary trip. While the grands were here our main AC went out for about 40 hours. Temps here were around 103 those days. We survived with fans with a max of about 83 in the house. We have thermal plantation shutters on all our windows which saved us I’m sure. A smaller AC unit cools the upstairs but it couldn’t keep up either. We did no cooking, and quiet activities like reading books and watching Disney +. The littles were troopers and loved the neighborhood pool and our hot tub. We freeze gallon jugs of water and float them in the hot tub like ice cubes. My plan this week is to rest and finish unpacking from our trip!

We were just at the glacier last week. It rained steadily the whole day we were there. It’s always sad when people lose their homes.

Learning things all the time. I’ll be sure to wash the bottoms of our shoes before we pack them. We will not bring snacks except for the plane. ( I would have bought them here and put them in checked bags but I guess not.) DH has food allergies so we have to bring something for him to eat as we can’t even request proper meals for him on the plane. We will wait until arrival in Australia to buy more. Do you sell things like peanut butter crackers there? Here these are prepackaged crackers that already have peanut butter on them. It’s a good staple for him. On the ship we have no issues, they accommodate, it’s just in ports of call.

Does anyone have any comments about the Pullman Quay Grand? We booked it as it seems close to most things and close to ferry access for other things. While it gets pretty good reviews on trip advisor I’ve not seen anyone comment on cruise critic. Any comments?