sarawithanh

I hope Mariner wifi is good to go because I actually have to take an online quiz for school on June 27 or 28. Figure the ship is my best bet as opposed to relying on airplane wifi? I dunno. my quiz is due by June 29, so I could do it on my Lufthansa flight I suppose.

sigh. 2 online summer grad school classes while crusing with my grandfather. fun times over here...

Bon Voyage Sara and Gramps!

 

 

Have a WONDERFUL cruise with NO SNAGS!

Don't get too excited...we still have 39 days til lift off :cool:

:p:D

Had dinner w/ gramps last night since I have a 1 week break from school. We discussed excursions and as a I suspected we needed to switch to some less walking ones - I was expecting this because mom had forewarned me.

So I emailed TA and we are set to go on all the excursions, except one we are waitlisted for. Hopefully by the time we board the ship they will let us into the excursion.

getting excited.

you are getting me excited for June 22!

Another question........

I experienced this on my last cruise, we missed our Belize port due to rough choppy waters...(Though, I often wonder if maybe the port was too full :mad: and they just said that as an excuse - Belize was the reason we took that particular itinerary)

Does this situation happen often in Mediterranean?

I haven't been on many cruises, but I know it can happen, and I'm fully prepared, and I told Grandpa not to be shocked if it happens :cool:

Thanks. I guess if gramps complains about coffee I'll suggest coffee connection or vending machine :) ahhhh can't wait to explore!

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Got my documents yesterday, so you should get yours next week. That is super exciting because it makes it real.

That's exciting Rachel!!! Mmmm maybe I should call gramps and reinstate our Tues night $6 movie and Panera dinner date for next week. Those go by the wayside when I'm in school and I happen to have a 1 week break next week!

Question - I've looked up temps for Mediterranean but do you or anybody else have a gauge for what it generally feels like there in June??? I'm from DC so I'm used to 80-100 degree days with like 10000% humidity. Hehe

Also - is it generally cold on the ship? Meh I'll bring a ton of cardigans and jackets bc I'm always cold when the AC is blasting. (My space heater is on year round in my office but I should note that the office AC comes on alllll winter long - it's annoying)

So glad I hate coffee..,,I still need caffeine occasionally and I rely on sugar free redbull or diet coke when the need arises. But I do love a good chai latte from Starbucks on cold winter days

Is there a special coffee shop or something on Mariner? Does it cost extra?

I'm not sure if grandpa is picky about how his coffee tastes but I do know he prefers it HOT HOT HOT.

Also keep in mind that some of the customer service representatives are clueless when it comes to using the cell phone internationally on a ship. They do not think about what the ship charges to use their signal. While many people have successfully texted or used their cell phone on board, there are also many that return home with a huge bill and do not understand why. Just be careful -- international calling is not the only issue.

48 days til we are in France! Wahoo.

Mom also said she talked to the Regent representative who actually booked our cruise and she swears up and down that our account says Free Wifi and $300 OBC. Moms gonna try to talk to Grandpa and see if he pull the original invoice to confirm.

I guess I will have to talk Grandpa into a spa treatment for himself. Or something in the boutique for himself. Lol!

I have AT&T iPhone and get the 50 text package while we are gone. It's 50 texts in a 30 day period and includes the ability to send pictures. It has always been enough. Just set yourself a reminder to remove it when you get home. If you remove it before the 30 days the texts are prorated for the period of time. So if you are gone, say 15 days and find you use only 24 texts, remove it as soon as you get home and your bill will be prorated and you will owe only $5 plus tax.

 

I have never used all 50 texts, even sending pictures to friends along the way.

Ohhh good tip on removing it when I get home. So I guess I'll wait until the week of the trip to activate it then!

Who the hell does laundry on VACATION?!?!

I haven't been fortunate enough to travel for longer than 10 days so maybe I could see necessity on longer trips...

But generally my rule is I ain't doin laundry and I pack enough. And hubby agrees

My mother in law is constantly doing laundry like towels and stuff on our week long family vacations at the beach. Hubby and I are constantly "yelling" at her not to grab our towels and stuff LOL. My bath towel is perfectly fine for a week without wash.

God I can't imagine doing laundry on a cruise ship. Your discussion reminds me of dorm living. No way no how.

Yes Nana - my 87 year old grandfather lives by himself in a 3 level townhouse and still DRIVES!!! never been in an accident. knock on wood.

I will ask hotel concierge I guess.

grandpa asked me if I can find out information on the "odds" for craps and blackjack.

The montecarlo casino website is NOT INFORMATIVE.

I will send them an email...

Thanks guys!

I think I'm nixing the walkie talkie idea.

Grandpa doesn't really know how to use his phone that well and thinks I do - well I don't! So I'm telling him he needs to get his son (the Verizon rep) to show him how to put it on airplane mode. Either that or I just suggested that gramps keep his phone OFF since we'll be together mostly...

and I'll have my phone . I use my phone for camera, alarm and wifi when abroad.

But I'm def going to upgrade the text/data plan for like $30-40 for while I am on excursions and such. That should be sufficient for my needs.

Thanks Rally Dave!

I have ATT so I'm fairly confident my phone will work. But I plan to chat with an ATT representative about the upgrading texts/data for while I am in Europe. and IF my phone will work should I need it.

You answered the question I wanted. I was pretty sure we should leave our phones off and in plane mode...which is what I usually do (need to ask my uncle to show me how to enable that on gramps phone I guess).

As for the data - I'll be turning my email off - and only keeping facebook and instagram open when I'm excursioning.... I will need a few days of ship wifi for my school work so I already know that.

Would walkie talkies work? My dad has some walkie talkies, I think there are 7 frequencies on them. Not sure Gramps will want to walk around with a walkie talkie - but I'll leave that up to him!

Thanks Nana. I did, but it still isn't entirely clear:

"Identity card is compulsory" <--does this mean I can bring my drivers license? I'd prefer to leave our passports in the hotel safe if we don't need them.....

http://www.montecarlosbm.com/luxury-casinos-monaco/monte-carlo-casino/

Ok, new topic! I only mention it b/c my mom and I were discussing it just a few moments ago so I figured ya'll are super helpful with tips and such that I would pose the question here.

My grandfather asked me the other day about this - he wanted to know how we were going to communicate with phones and such in the event that I go off on an excursion without him, etc etc.

I told him I didn't know how his phone works - Droid w/ Verizon service (through my Uncle who works for Verizon - so I may need him for technical assistance....I only know how to use my iphone - I'm a dummy with anything else hahaha!)

Anyways, I was explaining to grandpa that we probably wouldn't use our phones on the ship, and just leave notes on the door for each other....

I already intend to upgrade for $10 to get a certain number of texts from Europe....and I believe its $30 for a certain amount of Europe data to enable me to post on Facebook and Instagram (necessary!)....I hadn't really considered upgrading for phone service b/c I'm just not a big phone person and my parents are happy with text updates and mom will stalk my facebook page.

Anywho....I wonder if maybe it does make sense to have phones on??? I have no idea. MOm was mentioning long bathroom trips and such...but I kind of feel like as long as Grandpa gets my attention when he tells me something and I get his attention when I tell him something that we can find our way to each other???

It was complicated trying to find my friends on our carnival trip - obviously bigger trip and more places to hide ;) and nobody was checking their phones or their doors for messages...but I digress.

I dont really know what to tell Grandpa about if he needs to get ahold of me and I'm on an excursion without him.....I kind of told him that he shouldt really need me during the 4hours i'm gone (IF for some odd reason he doesn't go), and that he should just leave a note on the door for me to meet him somewhere at a particular time post-excursion.

Also - is free wifi generally avail when we are docked - are we readily able to pick up random wifi hot spots while docked?

THoughts? tips? guidance?:D

Thanks guys!!!

I won't let the pre-cruise stuff get to me, its part of the "fun" teehee...but my mind is constantly thinking of things.

which is funny b/c i really should be focusing on school - and I am, its just nice to take a break and look up trip stuff!

Mom wants me to hurry up and finish school so I can look up stuff for our cruise in January with my parents. bwahahaha. I guess I didn't tell her I only have 1 week of summer "break" between spring semester and summer semester. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have another topic to post about so I will start a new thread:D

Looked up United flight. we have our seats.

Though, I told the TA about 2 concerns:

1) my name is wrong again "SARAHANN" instead of Sarah Ann Sarah is my first name. Ann is my second name. grrr.

2) There was a strange message that said

"This reservation is not ticketed.

We will hold this reservation until midnight Tue., Apr. 22, 2014 in Washington, DC (IAD - Dulles)."

So I have an email into the TA about that. Strange.

Good tip on splitting the cards up between gramps and me!

I have a travel belt that I will have him wear and put his passport in for when we go to the casino in Monte Carlo. Or I may just wear everything since I'm a bit more "aware" of possibilities of theft and such when traveling. I also have a travel bag that is theft proof - i.e. has zips and buckle flap and strap is not easily cut :)

Thanks - guess I'll wait until I get to Frankfurt and withdraw some cash from an Airport ATM

I have capital one - so it doesn't matter as long as it's an ATM?

Sarah you can go to your local bank and they will order Euros for you. You need to have some in your pocket when you get there. Get any extra you may want from any ATM machine in Europe.

Thanks Nana! I will go to my bank and get some :)

One more question - is there free wifi on my business class Lufthansa flight? I'm assuming no...I am excited about OUTLETS though - will prob need to do some laptop school work :-)

We figure it out. We have our seats but they aren't showing up in Lufthansa bc it's a shared code. The flight home is actually being operated by United.

I know I will need some walking around cash - Euros for the trip - best place to get cash exchanged? Last time I took cash to an Amex shop (I think) in the mall to get US$ exchanged for my boss. Is that likely my best bet?

I wonder how many euros I want. Blah. I don't have much spending money for this trip - if I see something I want to take home to remember the trip I'll have my chase sapphire prefered card if a particular vendor accepts it. Think I could get away with like $250 exchanged to euros? Hmmm..,

back in business and my name is corrected in Lufthansa! woo

Our Frankfurt-DC return flight seats are still pending - but mom is going to call TA regarding that....we do have a piece of paper confirming our seats - but its still pending in Lufthansa system.

anyways. yeahhhhhhhhh. 60days!