Jan115

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @Anis Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeing more of you around our friendly community! ??

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @Beckiemc! Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeing more of you around our friendly community! ??

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @Alan! Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeing more of you around our friendly community! ??

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @Glendac! Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeing more of you around our friendly community! ??

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @Donikona! Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeing more of you around our friendly community! ??

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You've gotta start somewhere, and if the cruise line's want to do it one straw at a time, then so be it. If they really want to make a change, provide every cruiser with a re-usable water bottle and eliminate and ban ugly plastic water bottles. Those - and plastic shopping bags - are the scourge of the earth! ??️?️

Maybe this will, once and for all, completely shed Carnival Triumph’s reputation as the “poop cruise” ship after the incident in 2013.

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @Lynnc! Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeing more of you around our friendly community! ??

Congratulations on your new trip. It sounds amazing, and it is good to see things from a land perspective now and then!? Thanks for stopping by - now don’t be a stranger!?

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @proudnana! Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeing more of you around our friendly community! ??

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @Limocowboy! Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeing more of you around our friendly community! ??

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @Danforth! Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeing more of you around our friendly community! ??

Thank you, Shari - you can count on photos, for sure!

Hot off my CruiseCrazies Tuesday’s Travel Tip blog: Conserve and Re-Use on Your Cruise

While aboard the Norwegian Epic a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when a guest angrily complained to the lido bartender about the lack of a drinking straw for the frozen concoction she was holding. In the scheme of things, a plastic straw seems like a non issue, really, but it has become a hot topic since Norwegian did away with them as a step in an environmentally-friendly direction. The new line, Virgin Cruises, has similarly announced a similar ban on straws as well as other green methods of eliminating excessive waste. I wholehearted agree with the forward thinking. You might say “it’s just a straw - how can a straw possibly make a difference?” Well, take a 5,000 passenger ship, for instance. That’s up to 5,,000 straws a day in the trash, some ending up in the ocean. We can all do our part, one baby step at a time. Start with those ugly disposable plastic water bottles. Plastic bottles, in my humble opinion, are the scourge of the earth. Ditch the plastic and start using a reusable water bottle. Bring it on your cruise, and make it a daily habit at home. Buy some reusable drinking straws. Some are made of silicone, but the good ones are steel and indestructible. Bring a few along on your cruise. You’ll be the envy of all your frozen pina colada friends. Everyone will want one! Other ways to conserve include recycling glass, paper, aluminum, plastic and cans where available, re-using towels, turning off the lights when leaving the cabin, and closing the balcony door so the A/C doesn’t have to work so hard. Now, if only Norwegian would do something about those plastic cups ... ?

Hmmm .... maybe if I sell my house ???

Where does it say that the guides attempted to “lure, pursue or seek out” polar bears “in such a way as to disturb them?” They were simply checking the area for polar bears to access the safety for disembarking passengers. Thankfully, no guests were hurt. This was unfortunate, but the shooter did what he thought was right to protect a colleague in danger. From what I’ve read, efforts were made to scare off the polar bear, and when that didn’t happen, there wasn’t much of a choice. I don’t think it’s about a money-grubbing cruise line. These are expedition cruises, and while every company wants to make a profit, the company’s mission is to provide small ship experiences to remote, off-the-beaten-path locations for the unique opportunity to explore nature and wildlife. Hapag-Lloyd cruises has been in the business of expeditions since 1891, and the Bremen - the ship in this case - since 1990. Hapag and the other tour guides who come to Svalbard are well aware of the environmental codes, and succeed in complying. Encounters will happen - like a surprise attack by an animal - which is why they have guides - and yes, they may carry guns. If I was faced with an angry, hungry polar bear, you better believe I’d want an armed guide with me, one who is prepared to shoot. There are approximately 2,667 residents co-existing with polar bears in Svalbard, mostly without incident. Cruise and land expeditions don’t come with the intent to disturb or “lure out” polar bears or mess with the flora and fauna. They come for the opportunity to experience something they can’t get anywhere else, and hopefully are prepared enough to know the risks of exploring a place with animals in the wild. From what I can tell, most of these experiences go off without incident, and until Svalbard’s EPA decides to ban tourists due to danger to humans, animals or the environment, and as long as expeditions are following the EPA guidelines - and the people want to come - then the adventures will continue.

Since the time of writing this bit of information, I have run across a few situations where there has been no body scanner. The cruise line security, for instance, only has the metal detector, which hasn’t been an issue, as I just tell them about my bionic knee and they just let me pass. However, the one or two times where the only option at the airport was the metal detector, I got the royal pat down.?

Good point - Virgin does seem to be focusing a lot on fitness, but I hope there will be plenty of other ways for cruisers to relax without breaking a sweat.??

Welcome to CruiseCrazies @Rebel_star! Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first, we welcome your comments, cruise stories and questions and look forward to seeingmore of you around our friendly community! ??