TheSkipper

It really depends on where we are cruising. In September we will doing a "warm-up cruise" to the Mexican Rivera. Having been to these ports many, many times I don't expect we will be spending very much if anything on excursions, trinkets, etc. We also do not run up too much of a bar bill, so most likely our tips will be our biggest expense for that week. However, when we do our 15 day roundtrip to Hawaii in December I expect we will spend quite a lot. Never been to many of the islands, so excursions are in order. The same is true when we cruise in Europe, Greek Isles, etc. We always plan to spend much more on these cruises. :wink:

I've never been seasick, even kinda like it when it gets rough. Roe got seasick once on the Caribe I, Jeff. Took her to see the doc, got a shot, took a nap and was OK for the rest of the cruise. :cool:

Hi Shari, Since we will be with you on this cruise to Hawaii, I will be following this thread as well. We have never cruised Hawaii although we have visited it a couple of times, so we are looking for suggestions as well. :cool:

Looks like Aruba to me. :wink:

Checked out the Long Beach Port website and found they have a 5 story parking garage. Charge is $10 per day payable as you leave following your cruise. They do accept credit cards as well as cash. Just thought I'd pass this along.

An onyx masonic ring in St. Martin. :cheesy:

Hi Gang, Just curious if anyone has used the new Carnival/Princess terminal at Long Beach, CA. ?? :undecided: We know the setup at San Pedro quite well having used it several times, but have not used the Long Beach facilities as yet. Would love to hear any info you may have. :grin:

I guess you could say we cruise to shop, but we have our favorite stores on most of the islands, so don't need a whole lot of time to do it. Enjoy private islands and I guess my favorite would be Princess Cruises island. Nothing like getting a little sand in places you never knew you had! :grin:

Looks like we agree with the rest of the group. A large table seems to be more fun for us as welll. I agree that round is better than a rectangle. :wink:

Bermuda? :wink:

Just read in our morning paper (July 20th) that since January 1st, 443 murders have taken place in PR with the majority in San Juan. National Guard Units have been activated to assist Police. This pace is 32 above same time last year and last year the rate was four times the national average for killings. Have not read of any problems in the Old Town area where most cruise ships dock, nor have I heard of any problems for cruise passengers, so far.

As soon as we board, we pack away our cell phone. However, it has come in handy. About six cruises ago we were delayed for many hours because of fog in Tampa Bay. Ship finally docked at abour 4 PM. Phone allowed us to change our flight to the next day and to book a hotel room for the night. Also, on another cruise it allowed our Realtor to reach us in Nassau to advise us we had an offer on the sale of our home and by the time we got home we had a deal signed sealed and delivered. So I think there are some valid justifications to have a cell phone aboard, but not to sit on deck and engage in idle chatter which many seem to do. :cool:

We have found that if you get above the "Pool Deck" level the lighting is much more subdued and you can enjoy the stars. :rolleyes:

You know, it really comes down to your personal preference. We have done both seatings many, many times (41 cruises to date) and we kind of switch back and forth, lately we have been doing late seating and for quite awhile we did early seating. If we were cruising to an area where we have never been we would want to maximize our port time and want some time to rest on reboarding. Otherwise we would probably go with early seating. And writing all this reminds me that I have no clue which we selected on our September cruise! Guess I'd better check that out. No matter what you decide on you are going to have an unforgetable experience on your first cruise. We still remember ours quite well. BTW, begin a "Cruise Log" on this cruise and add to it on each future cruise. It is great fun to go back and looks through it as you plan your next sailing. :wink:

Good move, Howard! Best time to book. We are booked three deep at the moment and love it!

Granada??

We miss it!

Many years ago in St. Thomas, I bougth the biggest, badest, Swiss Army knife I could find with a zillion gadgets in the knife and in it's leather case. Take it on every cruise and always end us using it at least two or three times per cruise! Don't leave home without one! (Must be in your checked luggage of course) :wink:

Glad to hear you seem to have some buyers!! :wink:

Lori, I think Jeff's advice is the best, contact RCI and see what they suggest. I am going on the Legend of the Seas in September and if worse comes to worse can cash them for you, assumming they would allow that. Have no need of them for personal use since I live in Las Vegas the last place I would go on a ship is the Casino. I am too close to the gaming industry and know all the odds to make donations there! :huh:

Pretty much just a tourist trap these days. Kinda fun for a couple of hours, but time is so short in most ports who need to kill a couple of hours? If you have never seen one, might be worth dropping into, but don't start with the "shooters" if you want to make it back to the ship. :wink:

Keith & Rita, I have every doc, newsletter, sign & sail card, name badge, etc for everyone of our 41 cruises. Upon return from a cruise I deposit all in a plastic box with lid. I keep the latest box in a cabinet in our laundry room and the older boxes in a storage closet in our garage. I also keep a log book in which I record all the events of each day on every cruise. A lot of fun to look back on when you are considering returning to the same ship or cruise line. Also great reference stuff if you would like to see what on-board drinks cost 20 years ago, etc. etc. What will become of all this stuff one day who knows, but it is a lot of fun to look back and recall all of our cruises. :grin:

In the Navy, we were taught that a boat can be loaded aboard a ship!! :cool:

All lines should follow Princess's lead and include free laundry and dry cleaning for their upper Captain's Club catagories. :wink:

So far we have booked on the Diamond Princess on January 29th. Been putting this together as a fund raiser for our church, so we are kinda obligated to go. Darn dirty job, but someone has to do it! Still looking for just the right European River Cruise as our "Biggy" cruise for 2005. :undecided: