momofmeg

On 7/13/2019 at 11:33 AM, Travel Junkie Judy said:

 

I love the Sand Castle.  They do not have a website, but we make an extended visit each year and if you are interested, you can contact me and I will get you in touch with Franco, the owner and Master Carver.  I will be returning in December.

Franco is from Italy and studied there to learn his trade.  He came to Roatan and opened The Sand Castle and has taught locals how to carve.  I love that everything is made at this site and all are made by Franco and his local artisans.  

My contact information is:  judy donie at yahoo dot com . (in email format with no capitals and no spaces)

Why don't you suggest Franco open an etsey or Amazon store? I wanted a site I have confidence in using my card online. For the same reason I would not use my cards there, I would  not just use it anywheree online. That is what I want.

Otherwise I will wait until antoher cruise.

On 6/26/2015 at 8:54 PM, lovevacadays said:

My friend and I visited the Cameo Factory back in 2009. Different strokes for different folks. We didn't buy anything. It really doesn't take long to look through what they have. The "showroom" is not very large. In our opinion, the cameos were kind of rudimentary. Not bad, a bit pretty but I would be very careful about what I would pay.

 

We loved Roatan. The Cameo Factory was our least favorite stop.

$40 for a hand carved cameo pendant made out of abalone shell I thought was decent. 

As far s buying a carved conch shell  to be a knickknack dust catcher in my house for the kind of money it cost, no thanks. It does not appeal to me. I remember my parents had one they brought back form Korea/late  1940's when they were there with the army (my dad was stationed there in 1947) a little before the Korean war started. It never appealed to me. so I would not want that if it was free. but I love cameo brooches and pendants.

I agree with  you about using a credit or bank card. I do not use them anywhere in the Caribbean outside of Key West.

We bought a neat little humming bird cameo pendant last week made out of abalone with a pewter bale. If I had more cash on me I would have gotten another but I left most of my cash on ship. Does anyone know if they have an online store?

16 hours ago, momofmeg said:

 and this ship had enough bars and restaurants that no one should have had to do the drill in the heat. and even if they didn't they should have made  an alternative for anyone over 55 or serious health issues. Tiny babies too. those are the ones in danger of heat stroke.

 BTW the we were on MSC Armonia,   maybe it is because that ship is older they do it differently? 

9 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I suppose it depends upon several things, but size of sample needs to be considered.  I have seen, heard, experienced generally more  rude, loud US citizens than those of other countries - but possibly because I can more readily recognize compatriots (and possibly feel more regret at their vulgarity because of that link), but the absolute worst I experienced were, in fact, Canadian - of the French persuasion, yes, but still Canadian. 

Lol maybe my cousin then as most of  my French ancestry came form Quebec before they came to the USA.

11 hours ago, Harley52 said:

You are quite welcome, I find the most courteous, honest and sincere fellow cruisers are from Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.  Extremely polite.

 Lol where are you from? Maybe you are not loud but I would say you are rude and are  making a blanket statement.  I have found most people are courteous but there are exceptions in every culture. the problem is the exceptions are  what annoys us so  of course we remember them.

For example, I grew up in Augusta, GA, a military town  and so  I met many women from other countries who had  married GIs. I worked with a very rude hateful woman from Germany circa 1978. She was about the nastiest person I have ever met  even 40 years later. However,  I also worked with other German women who were nothing like her and found her just as obnoxious as the rest of us. 

49 minutes ago, momofmeg said:

 I saw MSC turn a way a guy in a muscle shirt the first night  at dinner but they allowed a young woman in shorts and sleeveless top a couple of nights later. I get that men don't  shave their underarms, so considered unsanitary by some, but that was surely a double standard. 

 

I actually brought skirts for dinner as all my summer weight capris  I thought were too casual for dinner and I did not want to bring my heavier weight pants for a July Caribbean cruise but maybe I need not have bothered.  

 Now elegant night, (they no longer have "formal night") men are not asked to wear a jacket or tie. I did insist my husband wear a tie though. I just wore 2 dressy dresses from a line at Dillards that Reba Mac Entyre endorses for  older women. I love that line as it has both great casual and dressy items made for older women but yet do not scream "Granny clothes." they have a youthful appeal but yet not for younger women. The one dress was a maxi dress in all over lace in teal color. The other was a 2 piece leopard print with metallic threads running through it.

However this cruise since originally was going to Cuba  and so had a lot of Cuban Americans. They go all out. The women had the slinky "Marilyn Monroe" type evening gowns and the men mostly wore either tuxes or white  dinner jackets. The first time I have ever felt under dressed on formal night! Usually I feel overdressed  as so many do not even bother to dress up  anymore.

Heck our previous cruise before this  was on NCL and they call it "dress up or not night" lol! That is exactly what you saw too, most were the "or nots!"

4 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

No. I remember a honeymoon couple at our table on the Grand Princess back in December 2003. The husband did not have a jacket for formal nights. He wore a dress shirt with a tie. We're glad they came to the table because they were nice. I'd much rather have someone nice who's not dressed to the nines than someone dressed to the nines who's not nice.

 

On the other hand, on another Princess cruise, we had a British tablemate who wore a colored T-shirt and camouflage pants the first few nights. We were shocked when formal night came around and he was dressed in a tux. 

 I saw MSC turn a way a guy in a muscle shirt the first night  at dinner but they allowed a young woman in shorts and sleeveless top a couple of nights later. I get that men don't  shave their underarms, so considered unsanitary by some, but that was surely a double standard. 

I actually brought skirts for dinner as all my summer weight capris  I thought were too casual for dinner and I did not want to bring my heavier weight pants for a July Caribbean cruise but maybe I need not have bothered.  

3 minutes ago, momofmeg said:

 Actually I am sure they have  more than several locations-2000 plus  people can't fit in one tiny area,  but they had around  50 or more  of us crammed in a tiny area on deck 6 in front of the Rum bar. I was like why didn't we meet in the Rum bar? No one was in there.  We also had to take our life jackets for the drill. Other lines say only in a real emergency.  The other lines  stopped making us take life jackets  because of the danger on the stairs. For the drill no elevators allowed.

 

BTW we were in one of the better balcony rooms so if  it went by cost of stateroom we should have had one.

 and this ship had enough bars and restaurants that no one should have had to do the drill in the heat. and even if they didn't they should have made  an alternative for anyone over 55 or serious health issues. Tiny babies too. those are the ones in danger of heat stroke.

20 hours ago, Cruisergal1208 said:

They have several locations for the muster drills.  We have been in the casino on Seaside and the Luna Lounge on Divina.  They really spread people out.  I don't like being outside either.

 Actually I am sure they have  more than several locations-2000 plus  people can't fit in one tiny area,  but they had around  50 or more  of us crammed in a tiny area on deck 6 in front of the Rum bar. I was like why didn't we meet in the Rum bar? No one was in there.  We also had to take our life jackets for the drill. Other lines say only in a real emergency.  The other lines  stopped making us take life jackets  because of the danger on the stairs. For the drill no elevators allowed.

BTW we were in one of the better balcony rooms so if  it went by cost of stateroom we should have had one.

6 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I am not against people self medicating at the table but their are limits. Pills are fine, but blood work and injections are not. 

 Injection pins are very popular now.  It is hard to tell what they are, they look  similar to an ink pen. I would see no issue with that but a syringe and needle would be different. However, most use the syringes if their insurance does not cover their meds well,  it is cheaper to use syringes if you have no insurance or lousy insurance.  If the person is a brittle diabetic I would tolerate it but even then, they could excuse themselves from the table  and go to the restroom. Dining rooms always have a restroom close by.

16 hours ago, DarrenM said:

Dover and Southampton are many many miles apart. 151 miles to be exact.

 

Therefore you cant be at both.

 Yes, 2 very different cruise ports

Just now, momofmeg said:

The train will take you all the way to airport. You may have to change at Victoria station though. Since we stayed a few days in London near that station  we had no changes.

17 hours ago, mockingbird123 said:

I am ending my cruise in Southampton/Dover England and flying home from London.  What is the best way to get from the cruise port to London?

The train will take you all the way to airport.

21 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I discovered cruisecritic between our second and third cruises. (I don't remember how I discovered it.)

 

I joined the roll call for our third cruise, and there was only one other poster. She invited us to dinner and to see her cabin which was an owner's suite.

4

34 minutes ago, Spidybabe1 said:

After 36 NCL cruises we tried MSC and love them. Cruised 4x on MSC. Cruising MSC is more like old world cruising. We love the beautiful elegant ships, fantastic food, and  their phenomenal shows. We found the staff to be attentive and professional . Sailed RC 2x with 3rd booked for August,  and enjoy them too. MSC more like RC than NCL

Safe sailing 

 I noticed too the officers were present around ship everywhere. Plenty of children  were on the ship last week but I never saw any bad behavior. I think their obvious  presence around ship  helps prevent that.

We did a July cruise in 2011 on NCL Sky and there was a group of tweenies throwing food from the buffet down the staircase outside the buffet. They also ran down the halls late at night (midnight 1 am) screaming. None of that went on on our MSC cruise and I do think the ship's officer presence prevented that.

Just now, momofmeg said:

 Okay I have done all of them. It is about the same. Food is better than NCL main dining room food. The buffet was not as nice as NCL's, not as many choices but the food was good there too. The shows  were well done. I would say the food is as good as Carnival's. or at lest the last  cruise I did on Carnival(2003) had great food better than RCI's(last cruise 2011) but RCI food is better than NCL.(last cruise 2017)

 

My biggest gripe was  we had to go outside for the  lifeboat drill whereas the other lines send you to lounges. Miami at 5 pm in July crammed up with 50 people is not good. I would not had minded if it had been  December but being 65 years old, that is just not good and that is mandatory. If they have an older  passenger end up with heat stroke they  would have a law suit coming so MSC needs to rethink  that and do what the other lines do and put people in lounges. 

 One thing they did have that young families would love is a splash pool for babies/toddlers not potty trained. that would be a plus for young families.

They also have decent sized staterooms. larger than NCL or RCI, comparable to Carnival

8 hours ago, pamelab said:

Please tell me everything about MSC Cruises. We have only cruised Royal, Carnival and NCL. Would venture MSC, but haven't researched yet - wondering what you all have to say! TIA

 Okay I have done all of them. It is about the same. Food is better than NCL main dining room food. The buffet was not as nice as NCL's, not as many choices but the food was good there too. The shows  were well done. I would say the food is as good as Carnival's. or at lest the last  cruise I did on Carnival(2003) had great food better than RCI's(last cruise 2011) but RCI food is better than NCL.(last cruise 2017)

My biggest gripe was  we had to go outside for the  lifeboat drill whereas the other lines send you to lounges. Miami at 5 pm in July crammed up with 50 people is not good. I would not had minded if it had been  December but being 65 years old, that is just not good and that is mandatory. If they have an older  passenger end up with heat stroke they  would have a law suit coming so MSC needs to rethink  that and do what the other lines do and put people in lounges. 

Here we are! Nice party! They did us up nice. cake, wine, chocolate covered strawberries and all the officers!

7 minutes ago, Robo1098 said:

I think that while they may put up with a blow up pool, I don't think they would promote them. Imagine the pool deck area with blow up pools all over it. I'm practically tripping half the time over all the chairs that are moved around.

 I guess it would depend upon how many babies were on the cruise. I am sure they would also have to limit it. Perhaps only have a  couple out at a time, and you would have to reserve them for say, an hour at a time?

11 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I stand by my statement. It was not directed at the OP. It was directed at those who complain about kids on a cruise. Yes, Royal caters to families. You must have me mixed up with someone else. 

 

In my opinion. 

 No I got what you were saying.  However, internet social media is full of people  posting hate of something. You decided here in this thread  they hate children,  where I got they hate children pooping in their diapers and getting in pools, which is normal and natural  until potty trained but unclean for  public pools. 

However elsewhere on social media  it could be  they hate Meghan Markle, Trump,  Clinton, Americans, Britons,  (insert any country here) or whatever else. Everywhere I go on social media somebody seem to strongly hate something or someone.  All I can say, if people hate that strongly as it seems on social media, then  it is no wonder we have all these shootings here in the USA.

Yes you are entitled to your opinion. everyone else is too. I just do not understand why people can't use a bit more tact when expressing their opinions. 

As far as people taking kids on cruises and people saying they should not bring them on cruises. Often it is because of a bad experience like we had on NCL Sky  about 10 years ago  of some bratty preteens un supervised throwing food from the buffet down the stairs outside the buffet, or some such issue they encountered. For example our neighbors on this cruise last week MSC Armonia,  had a baby that cried a lot. I did not  enjoy hearing it, who would?  but I had empathy for the baby. As much as that baby cried it was more than a temper tantrum.  I think he was ill. Maybe an earache from flying?  If I honestly thought they should not take their baby on a cruise, well it was me and my family who booked a cruise in July on a cruise line that cators to families. If that bothered me enough I would not cruise in summer and would also book another line like HAL. LOL the NCL Sky cruise was in July too! Thankfully on this cruise last week all pre teens and teens were all well behaved! anyway I would take a crying baby over bratty preteens any time!

So my opinion stands  also. Anyone who hates children should not pick a family friendly line to cruise and I honestly believe people just love to vent anger on social media becasue they feel anonymous. Why? because most would never dream of saying those things face to face.

17 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

So many on here can’t stand kids even though they were one once. 

 If that is true why are they cruising Royal Caribbean which is a family friendly line?

No, it is more about people being rude and opinionated and feeling anonymous on the internet. 

15 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Actually only a small fraction have these areas, DCL, some RCCL and MSC.

 That's a shame, perhaps the new ships will all have these from now on, they should if they want to attract families. 

Years ago  after that  happened at White water, I read where a couple brought on one of those small blow up pools which they filled up at the shower on the pool deck and emptied it there after they were done.   Perhaps older ships should offer those for parents with smaller children.

2 minutes ago, gerif said:

True. 

 I am glad they have a splash pool. Problem solved!

10 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

I don't know what Hank would say.  I only know what he said in his post about his table mate speaking out loud.  Please take another look at the posts in question.   

 well they were rude unless they have dementia and do not know any better