~ * Cruise Question of the Day * ~

cruisetarp · November 20, 2007

We generally bring some wine with us but it was much easier when they allowed you to buy it on the ship and pay a small amount extra to take it to your room.

JoeyandDavid · November 20, 2007

So, are you just going to keep me in suspense. If you can't post them here, pm them to me.... As for being a "siclk individual", I find those are the most fun people to know!!!

I shouldn't have said anything.. I am sorry.... :wub:

Joanandjoe · November 20, 2007

We don't normally bring wine onto the ship at the beginning of the cruise, although we've done so a few times when we drove to the ship. Very often, though, we've bought wine at ports, and brought it onto the ship. Once or twice, we've bought stronger stuff in port, and never been stopped.

We always bring high spirits when we begin a cruise. Since we've never been on a haunted ship, we haven't brought that type of spirits with us. Wooooooo.

sailingrose · November 20, 2007

We all have our own packing styles. Do you use any special method that works better than others???? Ex: roll the clothes, space bags, etc. Please post any hint you may have.......

I usually do a combination of things. I roll some stuff but also use ziplock bags for some. Never seems to all fit however.

rmrlbr · November 20, 2007

First cruise was in August 1985 in AHC's SS INDEPENDENCE. A fantastic trip that enabled me to convince my wife that she would not get sea sick and would not be bored. This is well before NCL re-flagged the former NORWEGIAN SKY and brought her back as the MS PRIDE OF ALOHA. We have now completed 21 cruises and will take the 22nd next September for 14 days in Alaska and terminating at our home, San Diego. Unfortunately, our last cruise in the PRIDE OF ALOHA was a complete disaster. We had up-graded to an Owner's Suite that turned out to be the best part of the trip. This "criuise" was nothing more then a modified ferry boat trip with overnight stays in Kuai and Maui. That would normally be welcomed until we learned that the dining rooms had minimimal staffing (we waited almost an hour to place our order) and there was absolutely no on-board entertainment. To make matters worse, the "All-American" crew consisted mostly of recent high school graduates who, more often then not, demonstrated a complete lack of concern for passengers and had yet to learn the meaning of the word "service." I addressed my concerns to the Hotel Manager and later in writing to NCL's CEO as well as NCL AMERICA management. My comments resulted in receipt of "Standard Letter #9" and $400.00 on-board credit for a future cruise. The on-board credits were returned to NCL and we have now decided to spend our vacation dollars with RCCL.

NCL, like other cruise lines, are cutting service to the point that we were advised that "Baked Alaska is no longer served since it has been determined to be a serious fire hazard." Depending on the quality of our Alaskan cruise next year with RCCL, we have probably reached the point that we will cruise only with CELEBRITY and/or HAL in future years.

I would not recommend NCL America for anyone, but a first-time visitor to Hawaii.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Dick

San Diego, CA.

cruisetarp · November 20, 2007

Thanks for giving us your thoughts on the Pride of Aloha. Sorry you had such a bad experience. Hopefully your future cruises will be much better.

Glad to have you with us and see you posting.

cruisetarp · November 20, 2007

Packing: Jim just layers everything in his bag. I pack each days outfits in a seperate ziplock bags and keep my dry cleaning in the cleaner bags which I lay on top of my ziplock bags. This helps in the morning when I am up way before Jim and need to only pull one bag from the drawers and I have my entire outfit for the day. So far this has worked out fine for me.

KeithnRita · November 20, 2007

Welcome aboard, Dick. Since you are a cruise veteran we look forward to hearing more about your cruise experiences. We've heard similar comments about NCL in Hawaii.

Now as far as packing goes, Rita is a pro! She does all the packing and has a knack of making much fit into less! One thing she does when we are flying to port is to pack each bag with cloths for us both, just in case the airline loses a bag.

JoeyandDavid · November 20, 2007

David is normally in charge of packing.... he uses the day parts system..thats where he packs outfits according to Itinerary and then puts them in medium plastic bags that you can squeeze the air out of....to save weight and space.

TheSkipper · November 20, 2007

For the past several years we have used "special" suitcases for cruising. They have two separate compartments. One for hanging garments and the other larger area for general packing.

We pack the hanging garments in cleaners plastic, and this really keeps the wrinkles down to almost nothing.

I use packing cubes for underwear, socks and polo style shirts. Actually two for the shirts. Make my unpacking very easy.

Each of us have this type of suitcase. They are 29" roller bags which are easy to handle in airports, etc.

In additon, Roe uses a matching Carry-on bag and I use a small day pack for medications, electronics and other important things which we do not check either on the plance or when boarding the ship.

Our luggage is bright RED which we enclose in heavy plastics covers, so there is no problem spotting ours at baggage claim. The covers keep the bags clean and very protected. :thumbup: