TheCalicoCat

& don't get lulled into thinking that driving would be cheaper.

wear & tear on your car

gas

food

lodging

My husband is still unsure about it, and is opting to take a nice road trip down to the Keys with our boys and be there for the wedding. 'cross your fingers for me' ;)

The story of my childhood "nice road trip." Excuse my Canadian, but BALDERDASH.

I'd rather decline the invitation than drive from Indiana to Key West. (Without considering the drive with small children.)

We cruised the week after Thanksgiving (a couple years ago). They were decorating as we were waiting to leave the ship.

At home, our son is in a raised bed, so at 5 he will be in a pull down starting on Tuesday.:D Worst case scenario, Mommy will be in the pull down.:eek:

While I am bringing the whole shebang, I think that all that you need is the page that you sign & the luggage tags. I'll find out for sure on Tuesday.:D

I never understood this phenomenon on cruises. I don't tend to see people decorating their hotel room doors at land based resorts. It just seems so silly to me...

If it makes someone happy... (I've never been in a hotel for 10 days & I've never been to a land resort - not my thing, so the amount of time in the location wouldn't make it practical.)

Thanks. I'm glad to hear barefoot!

We went through four or five bowls of them the last time we went to Izumi and I didn't think they were that good. :p :D

Its a good thing that they are officially classified as junk food.:D

I think it depends on a number of factors. DH and I have cruised on Adventure, Voyager, Freedom, Liberty, and are set to cruise on Allure next month. (We've also cruised on Celebrity Constellation and, before we met, I did a Princess cruises and he cruised a couple of times on NCL and HAL as a kid.)

 

If it were just the two of us, I think we'd be fine with cruising Voyager class, Radiance class, or some of the other lines' comparable ships. But the things that our kids totally love about cruising are primarily on the Freedom and Oasis-class ships (Dreamworks characters, rock wall, H2O zone, Cupcake Cupboard, etc). They'd probably be okay going back to Freedom-class after Allure, but anything other than that would not be as much fun for them.

Maybe because my son is only 5, but he is about to go on his 5th cruise all of them have been on smaller ships (Carnival Pride & HAL Volendam) & he had fun.

Also our high school intern in the office went on the Pride before we did & said that there were plenty teens & they all had fun.

Quite possibly even your husband had fun on NCL & HAL in his childhood as well otherwise he may have nixed the cruise vacation idea all together.

Hard to tell with the weather around here. We've done a couple November cruises our of Baltimore & next week will do a January one out of Baltimore.

I guess that Florida is about when it warms up... I honestly don't recall. I must not have been miserable because I've repeated & plan to repeat a winter out of Baltimore cruise - which also means that it wasn't bad enough for me to decide "not to do that again."

If that made any sense.;)

Just my opinion, but like most everything else, it is what you make out of it. Its still a vacation!

Cruise on a smaller/older/different brand ship or not at all because your very favorite ship doesn't fit your schedule or budget - seems like an easy answer to me.

But I cruise for the itinerary not the ship, the ship just gets me there.

You may also discount my opinion because I sail in inside cabins - I've heard that you also don't go back after having a suite. (I'd rather sail on a longer trip or more often than on a newer/fancier ship - or bigger more expensive room.)

You can get them frozen in our out of the pod - cook according to directions.

I have also seen them "fresh" at Costco in a package that also had instructions.

Fresh in quotes because they could be pre-cooked - I did not notice.

Both the frozen & the "fresh" are good IMHO. (I've tried many brands both organic & conventional.)

We are also doing this RCCL excursion in a week. I did research and water shoes or keens seem to be the norm. You can search videos on line to see...Have fun :p

Thanks. My son has Keens. So I'll pack those.

Thanks, I did add it to the Tortola section. & I was hoping that by posting a generic title, I might get someone in that would not have responded to a specific title... Always hard to judge for me which would be best.

I for got to add here, what type of shoes would be better sneakers or crocs?

My understanding of the package is it is one time at each restaurant.

That was my understanding too which is why I asked, as it seemed like the other poster only went to 2... (Or I could have read it wrong - wouldn't be the first time.)

I'll ask next week;) when I am on board. Can't hurt to ask.

Just curious... You mention that this is a work cruise, but not the type of work... (Different attire in a dentist's office that a Law office.) & you mentioned only packing a carry on & having a lot of space in a grand suite.

Is your boss paying for a grand suite?

I ask because, If you work in a dentists office & are going on a work cruise, that is probably more relaxed (with a more relaxed dress code expectation) than if you work in a law office where your daily attire is more like "formal" on RCCL than what more of your fellow cruisers will be wearing. Nice suit on a daily basis vs chinos, button down shirt & tie. My expectation of Dentist office attire is scrubs. If you boss always sees you in scrubs then your boss might not expect to see you in a cocktail dress.

& then again if your boss is paying for a grande suite, them you might be expected to dress like you are in the grande suite. (With the expectation that if you spend $10,000 on a suite vs $1,000 on an inside that you can afford to dress better.)

Just my opinions. (My family drives to the port so we can pack as much as we think will fit in our cabin & we like the excuse to dress up.)

Tour to Virgin Gorda Baths

Did you feel rushed while making your way to the beach? Did you have adequate time to explore?

:confused: What kind of footware should we wear for exploring the Baths? Sneakers or crocs?

We are taking a RCCL excursion.

We leave Baltimore on the 21st (Holy cow, that is only 5 days from now!), so a quick response is appreciated.:)

What kind of foot ware would you recommend for the Baths?

Sneakers or crocs?

We really love Chops and Izumi - went to each twice. The dining option which costs $55 a person includes all three specialty restaurants.

Can you got to Izumi 3 times using this special?

I've already booked & pre-paid for 3 lunches there (I LOVE SUSHI) $10 each time per person... (But I'm not sure which would be a better value - depends on how much & what type of sushi we eat.)

Right now it is a toss up for me on deciding to try to have our reservations switched to the package or not.

How do you prove you are married the day after a wedding? You won't have a marriage license. Anyone know?

We got our license before we left the venue.

I'm always cold so I can relate. Layers, Layers, Layers and I always carry a shawl/pashmina. I pack a lightweight sweater/cardigan to go over my tanks/tshirts or sundresses while on board. I sleep in my winter flannel pj bottoms and long sleeve tshirt. I usually wear long sleeve outfits for dinner and carry my sweater/cardigan for the evening shows.

Pretty much ditto.

Great, Thanks.

Thanks, I hadn't really thought about traffic - our last cruises left on the weekend.:o

I now need to plan on leaving at noon...

What time is too late to arrive? The check-in time range on my setsail pass says between 10:30 & 3:00. I am sure this is a "probably won't be necessary to know" question, but we have stuff to do in the morning at & near our home, which is 60-90 min away from the port.

I don't want to be in crazy mode if we leave the house at 1:00 - with the assurance that arriving at 3:00 is o.k.

(I do hope to leave the house closer to noon if not before.):o

I am bit of a nervous nelly because we are usually the "first" ones on the ship - testing how early is too early to arrive at the port!