jacketwatch

Well Jason some things are the same at home too.

Thanks for the info Jason. I do wonder what it will be like when and if the Concordia pulls into the yard for dismantling. I'd like to be there.

I saw an interview with that TA and in it she stated that no other insurance was available beyond what was offered by Royal. She obviously never heard of insure my trip dot com or did not want to acknowledge that other options existed.

Very cool topic Jan. We had taken land vacations exclusively and Sue got the idea for a cruise for something different which I was against at first and finally agreed reluctantly. Our first was a 7 day cruise to the western Med out of Barcelona in the summer of 2002 with stops in Villefranche, Livorno, Rome, Naples and Malta and was on the Splendour of the Seas which is small by todays standards. We opted for a window cabin and arose on the first morning thinking we were in port only to look out the window and see that we were still at sea! The ride was so smooth we did not even feel the motion. I loved the entertainment as they had a band which dressed like and performed nothing but Beatles songs so that was very neat. Out TA at the time advised us that even though this was our first cruise that going tours on our own was easy and of course much cheaper so we took her advice. All we did was get off, get a cab, cut a deal and go and htis worked very well in every port though at the time the USD was 1:1 to the Euro. We had so much fun we've done nothing but cruises ever since save for our trip to India and one land vacation to Hawaii.

I too am sorry to hear that thiswas such a disappointment. Its like time and money wasted. We once took a summer Caribbean cruise on the Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan and there were a bunch of kids running amok as well, even pushing to get in the elevators b4 people could get out of them.

Me too. The airline miles add up, especially if you take advantage of intro offers like the Chase Sapphire card which got us 40K miles. However this works for us as we have plans to fly and take advantage of the miles. It has saved us a ton over the yrs.

Excellent point... makes me wonder about complications resulting from such wide flung operations. I know that the industry is about 50 years old but despite that is it mature enough to handle a truly global reach? I hope they do as we would like an Asian cruise someday and if there are more choices available all the better. As it is we are looking at the Sapphire Princess which has an itinerary we like. Personally I've always liked RCI's ship design from the Voyager class onwards. We saw the Liberty of the Seas in port last yr. in Naples I think. Wow! Gorgeous ship.

Like most others my body clock determines when I get up. For me work means up at 0430 or 0500 so on a ship I'm up early, not that early but usually by 0600.

Seems like a good idea to me. The limiting factor is if your allergy issues can be controlled by adjustments to your cabin environment vs. the rest of the ship.

Luv that song too!

Speaking of suspicious staff here is a C/P of our experience at the Mansingh Palace hotel in Ajmer, India which we stayed at for about 1 week in 2010 for our nieces wedding. This was published on Trip advisor. "We had a very suspicious incident regarding some expensive jewelery "disappearing" from my wifes purse in our room while we were gone for 1 hr. for lunch. It happened on the day we were to depart to Delhi. Several staff members including the manager searched our luggage inc. my carry-on bag. This bag was searched about 6 times by 6 different people inc. myself and my wife and the satin sachel with the jewelery was not found here or anywhere. We left for the train shattered by this and certain that we were robbed. Then just about 10 minutes into the ride my wife looked in my bag and mysteriously the sachel was there and in an obvious spot. The hotel manager said with several employees in our room that he would search everyone. I can only conclude that whoever took it from the purse mamaged to slip it back into my bag due to fear of being caught red handed. As my wife was emotionally devistated and in tears and the scene was chaotic this could have easily happened. What is most disappointing is that repeated emails to the Mansingh group have gone unanswered for about two weeks now adding a further insult to our experience there." But theres more. After two emails went unanswered I sent a third(all to the Mansingh corporate HQ) and stated that if this went w/o a reply I would post this experience on the www and as I got no reply again I posted this. Then I got a reply from the hotel manager through trip advisor who was one of the 6 or 7 who searched my bag and he accused me of making this whole thing up! So as we are going there again in Oct. for another wedding staying at this hotel is out of the question. Anyway my BIL got us a room in a much nicer place which used to be a rajah's palace. In the state of Rajasthan where this wedding will take place there are many palaces like the one in the James Bond movie "Octopussy" or the Lake Palace in Udaipur and after Indian independence in 1948 many of then were converted to hotels. Merwara Estates in Ajmer is one of them and thats where we are staying. The price is about the same as the Mansingh where we stayed last time too.

This was on the Adventure of the Seas, RCI. I got this info from the pursers desk. I am not sure about other lines or even if RCI still does this.

Its my understanding that formal nights on Disney aren't really that formal at all so allowing shorts is not that much of a stretch as it seems. Has that been your experience.

I dont think all smokers would be as considerate and what about smoking multiple times on the balcony? Its not just the occasional cigar though as a Scotch drinker and fancier myself I can se how you would enjoy that moment on your balcony. Also as a non smoker I can assure you I can tell when someone has been smoking in a room or been around those who smoke. My son had a friend whose parents smoked and you could always tell as it got into his clothes. Smokers can become sort of immune to cig smells but as a non smoker you notice rather easily. JM2C.

In all fairness Disney has consistently ranked at or near the top per passenger reviews for ships of their size. I have seen this in several travel mags I subscribe to. However I wonder how it would look on formal night in the MDR (my understanding is shorts will be allowed there on formal nights) for someone in a tux seated with someone else wearing cargo shorts. Weird I think.

Thank you. I hope her surgery is a success! BTW we have a cruise scheduled in April which stops in Roatan and Coz. as well. Maybe you can get me some tips.

For me the problem with smoking on balconies is how do you prevent the smoke from getting into the cabin? You could say close the balcony door but I don't see how everyone will remember or comply with this. Non smokers are sensitive to the odor cig smoke leaves. If we entered a cabin with this odor it would be very unsuitable for us. I used to smoke and realized after I stopped how I had become unaware of cig odor as what I did not sense as a smoker I sensed as a non smoker so I think cabins and balconies should be smoke free not only from an odor perspective but also from a safety perspective as well. However how do you accommodate smokers? If you smoke you can't go for an entire cruise w/o a puff so designated smoking areas are necessary. Restrictions on smoking are a clear sign of the times as fewer people smoke. I think cruise lines are following what offices, most public buildings and private homes are doing. I am an RN and have been for 34 yrs. and remember when everyone smoked in the hospitals, even patients so long as there was no oxygen in the room. When I tell some of the newer folks they are astounded. Things change.

And it happened after an overhaul and its in Singapore to boot. I wonder what Princess will do for those who paid their own air to get there and back.

Let me clarify one of my answers. On one cruise we thought to leave the auto tip on as its convenient. However we had a big problem with the maitre'd and when we found out some of the auto tip goes to him we had it removed, got the envelopes and gave accordingly. The hotel manager came to the rescue and solved the issue the maitre'd tried to ignore so he got what was intended for the maitre'd. On top of that we usually tip above the auto if the service has been good, especially for our cabin attendants and waiters in the MDR.

We all need something to look f/w to Sarge so its really cool for you. It sure makes the days go by. What is the itinerary?