wcook

If anyone complains, tell them they don’t call it the love boat for nothing.

Zihuatanejo. Mexico. Little place right on the Pacific. You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory. That's where I'd like to finish out my beach trip. A warm place with no memory.

Just my opinion - everyone should do what they feel comfortable with: Any “bus sized” tour, or any tour arranged through the ship: No tip necessary, small tip ($5) if the guide or driver does a great job. ”Van sized” tour in a poorer country where guides rely on tips: Small tip almost always, larger tip ($20) for a great job.

The “other” terminal in San Juan PR is a giant open warehouse space. My one time departing there was a problem and nobody could board. Thousands and thousands of passengers backed up with no place to sit, no air conditioning, etc. for hours. Making it worse was the absence of anyone from the cruise line to offer assurances and explanations. Really put a damper on the start of the cruise. Luckily, this is becoming a thing of the past as the lines are mostly building beautiful terminal buildings, at least for their main home ports. Good.

Kids: We don’t want to go unless there will be lots of other teens on board. Parents: OK. Since there’s no guarantee we’re sending grandma to watch you guys while we go alone. Try not to get in too much trouble. And did we mention that with the money we are saving not bringing you we’ve upgraded to a super nice suite!

Regardless of who is to blame and what compensation is appropriate, it sucks for the passengers and I sincerely hope things get better.

Because passengers are getting sick of the low advertised price with tons of nickel and diming. One of the joys of cruising is the all-inclusive pricing. It’s why cruises don’t charge for shows or the MDR. It’s one thing to charge for “splurges” such as a spa treatment or specialty dining. But things that are common everyday items, they should be included. IMO.

I thought this was a nice video explaining the rules/details (from 2023) and lots of video showing the experience on a glacier day. EDIT - Just noticed you are on the Sapphire. Different class of ship so things will be different. But I’ll leave the link.

It took me a while, but I’ve realized cruising is not the way to visit bucket list destinations. Especially as the more exotic the destination, the more likely things are to go wrong. Cruises are great for visiting Cozumel, where if you miss port, oh well, we’ll have have sip margaritas by the pool on ship. Not so great for the person who has dreamed their whole life if visiting a particular port.

Interesting. Never been to Alaska but assumed formal night was when you wore your nice flannel.

Never seen it, but looks fun.

From a cruise standpoint, you can’t beat the private “islands.” If I can only pick one, Disney’s Castaway Cay.

Depends on if the “tradition” is captain goes down with the ship, or captain is last to leave the ship.

And this is why I always go a naked cruises 😉

Can you find any trip reports from people who did that sailing in prior years?