TheSkipper

Reading all the replies, it appears that any port you can drive to is the favorite. Makes sense. I would say ours is Lauderdale, like the proximity to the airport.

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We loved our Transatlantic this Spring. Can't wait to do another.

Neither of our parents ever cruised. I joined the Navy to go to sea and got put into Naval Intelligence and never got aboard a ship, except for the Troop Ship that took me to Germany. I guess I'm making up for it now.

Since we are normally up until midnight at home, we often turn in earlier on a cruise. Will sleep in until the last possible moment to get showered and get to the breakfast buffet. That's a treat for me, no dog to walk.

Airline bookings are really becoming a nightmare. Good article, Joey.

Joey, This link may help; http://www.vrbo.com/ We have given it serious thought and plan to do it in the not too distant future. We did the driving thing in Europe and while we enjoyed it, it was a lot of work. I like the idea of day tripping from on central location. Kind of like unpacking only once on a cruise ship.

Yea, Sue we do want to hear about the "balcony thing."

Joey, A couple of years ago, I bought some homemade Apple Butter at an Amish farm in PA. To die for!!

One of the ways I rate a cruise ship and a cruise line is that they must have peanut butter at the breakfast buffet. Gotta have it on my toast. NEVER get it at home!! "Too many calories" says DW. I tell you Azamara had some stuff I'd never seen before. Cooked while you wait Shish Kabobs and French Onion Soup in a bread bowl both at the poolside grill.

Sounds like a good move to me. We once me a young couple on a cruise with an infant and they were very upset that there was not "free babysitting" on board!!

Yep, missed Bermuda on our Crown Princess cruise out of Brooklyn two years ago. Heavy seas. Princess said "Sorry." There have been a couple other missed ports among all of our cruises. Don't remember anything special that the cruise line did. They warn you in your docs that this can and does happen.

Domestic, no. International, yes.

Probably to a limited degree. It will make it tougher to book a cruise off the East Coast because of high airfares. Not impossible, just tougher. Will probably look a lot harder for bargains. I have two more frequent flyer tickets to Europe, so that is probably on the radar again for somewhere down the road. But, in most cases we will simply "bite the bullet", life is to be lived, this is not a rehearsal! Hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day. Do me a favor and at 3:00 PM in your time zone take a moment and remember all the brave men who died to give us the right to live in freedom. Thanks.

OK, OK, Ray I'm working on it. Have 77 ports listed and now have to go to my cruise logs and see what I've missed.

Ray, You've gotta be kidding me!!! With 52 cruises it would take me a week to put the list together!! Let's so say "A lot."

I read the details in our morning paper. They will not charge their Elite members, first class or full fare passengers or international flight passengers.

When we bought new luggage last year I also bought heavy duty plastic covers for the pullman cases. So it is easy to spot the red bags with the plastic covers, and it sure protects to luggage. Years ago I also bought luggage straps with our names woven right into them, but with the covers don't use them much anymore. We also take clorox wipes in a plastic bag and clean everything in the stateroom when we arrive. Including the TV remote, telephone, door knobs, vanity surface and any thing else we will be touching. We also take along a bunch of alcohol wipes that the casinos pass out to have with us when we are ashore. We too do the business card thing and the egg crate. On our most recent cruises I replaced my classic carry on case with a day pack. It works great for all my electronics and cameras, meds, etc. and it really comes in handy for shore excursions, even has netting one each side for water bottles. It also makes a great place to display on the little "pins" I pick up from various countries. Also have a small clip on compass attached to it.

Not very often. Did get up as we approached the Panama Canal. On the transatlantic this year we arrived at most ports between 10AM and Noon, so I was awake for those ports!!

We have done it both ways. Now that many of the doors are tied into the AC system, we have found that the AC is more important than the smell and sounds of the ocean.

Saw this on the news. It really sucks!! We try and pack with some common sense and can get away with one large pullman type bag each and the rest carry on even for a two week cruise, but to be charged for the first bag really ticks me off! I hope American dies with this proposal.

Our answer to the lunch question is "All of the Above." Depends how we feel on any given day. Enjoy it all.

I installed wind chimes near the front entrance to our home. Good Feng Shui. And, more important, out bedroom is in the back, so none of the "music" reaches us at night.

We loved the Quest. We sailed from Miami, Florida, USA to Rome. Three stops in Spain, one in the Azores, and one in Corsica before we reached Italy. We have done 52 cruises and the Quest was the best. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the Quest or Azamara. The Cruise Director aboard the Quest was the best we have ever had. Got to know him and his wife pretty well on our 14 day cruise. Wish we were sailing with you.