Pam

We always wore the harp pins; achieved gold status on our last cruise but it was before you got the benefits on the cruise you stepped up. I haven't ever seen a Regent pin.

So true, Rachel! When we flew home from Anchorage in 2001, First Class was like miserable steerage. Overnight flight, seven hours from Anchorage to Atlanta, two-hour layover, then an hour to Memphis. I wanted to curl up on the Atlanta airport floor and sleep, there was NO getting comfortable on that plane.

Marc, I would go along with that if I had been to Beale Street lately. But I am going to blame the RSSC website, because when I was originally searching I had a choice between ships. Then, I went back to look more than once, and until now it showed Explorer in Alaska for 2020. I never searched for 2021, because I knew Mariner wouldn't be there then.

Marc, blame it on senility; I swear I saw somewhere that Explorer would be running one day ahead of us in June of next year. Oh well, thanks for the correction.

Mark could only travel during January/February because of the type of business he was in, so we were on several Navigator cruises to the Caribbean in that time frame. We also cruised on other ships in different time frames when something came up that we simply couldn't resist (he did have a partner that he kind of trusted); I don't remember different ambience during the different time frames, or on the different ships. We did enjoy sauntering down the pier in San Juan and leisurely boarding, while watching hundreds of people standing inline to board the big ship next to us.

I have wondered why they have two of four (although there will be five by then, I guess?) ships in Alaska next year, with so much competition in the mainline cruises. Explorer will be running one day ahead of us next June.

Mariner was our "entry" ship, and we sailed on Voyager before we ever sailed on Navigator. The first time we were on Navigator, we were exploring the ship, and suddenly we "ran out of ship" and realized we were actually on a smaller ship. We ended up doing most of our cruises on Navigator; one more each on Mariner and Voyager, but mostly Navigator. The crew on Navigator was always like family. One time our door was open while the crew brought luggage on; one of the head waiters passed our door, saw me standing there, dropped the luggage and gave me a huge hug. Several crew members remembered us from trip to trip, and called us by name. Navigator is a wonderful ship.

I am so sorry for your loss, Dan. I may suggest that my daughter do this with mine and Mark's ashes, when my time comes around.

I just saw a major typo in my previous post. The baby bed did NOT go in the bathroom; there was a perfect spot in the bedroom for it. Please don't think bad things about that young couple's placement of their child!

I had to take what I could get, because those hotels are filling up fast already. I had to bite the bullet and go with Fairmont Waterfront. I will still keep searching because I can cancel, but I kind of panicked.

We like clean, with a/c because we live in the South and if there is no A/C we lose our minds. But we don't need Shangri-La, we will just have gotten off that. I will look into some of these that you mentioned, probably starting with 3* and working downward. My husband and I stayed there pre-cruse and for some reason stayed at the Four Seasons. We were totally underwhelmed.

You are right, I was in a port cabin. But I'm not sure I specified which side when I asked in email. It was a moot question, because those British Isles cruises seem to fill up with golfers.

Walking through the closet to get to the bathroom never bothered us, except that we had to make sure the hangers closest to the bathroom door were in the right position to close the door. It was the large living room and monster deck that we loved. The size of the bathroom didn't bother us, either; in fact, I measured and corresponded with a young couple who wanted to bring a pack and play; there was a perfect spot for it.

Now I need hotel recommendations for Vancouver. I think we want to be downtown; I thought about a house and renting a van, but that is unfamiliar territory (we always had incredible friends who lived there and chauffeured us around, but they moved to Vancouver Island a few years ago) so downtown it is. I have asked her for suggestions, too. Thanks!

Just FYI; I cruised in one of the big aft suites three years ago, and it was incredible. I thought about taking my granddaughter on a British Isles cruise, so asked if the bed could be separated into two. The answer was no.