schmoopie17

Do what we did...retire. That'll teach 'em.

First of all...your situation sucks. Been there, done that. Hoping for the best for you. We've since learned cruise insurance is your friend. As for waiting until after 30 days, you would still need to make the full payment. You could still have an injury/accident/illness that would require you to cancel. Insurance would still be a wise investment, even at that late date. I see no benefit to waiting until the last minute to book, especially since you will most likely have to settle for a less desirable cabin...or a guarantee cabin...which is most likely not a good one.

We're also on this cruise, since it's one of the official #Schmoopiefest25 cruises. Thanks for asking the question so my panties don't get in a wad, either (or at least not as big of a wad as they usually are).

Bud Andersen (Anderson) was the son's name on "Father Knows Best"...probably before your time. Was he as funny as he looks?

You can bear-ly see him. At least you got a close-up of bear poop.

We fly out on 9/11. Probably not the best day to be flying.

Yep...saw it yesterday. No big deal...Manzanillo wasn't a highlight (might have just stayed on the ship and considered it a "sea day"). So...you actually booked it? (Silly question, I know, since you got the itinerary change.).

On our last 15 day cruise, half the time we told our steward that there was no need to come in even once. We can use towels more than one day and don't need our bed made. They'e busy enough and I'm sure she appreciated the break.

I assume you relished the "mustard" and had to ketchup with the rest of your group..

YIKES! They should rename it from the IV Lounge to the Oy Vey Lounge.

If you read the bylaws of #Schmoopiefest, (as referenced by @Sugar Magnolia)... a four-day cruise barely qualifies as a cruise. So you're okay...😛

You've eloquently captured my feelings in a nutshell, my friend. Great minds...

On the Escape, the trick is, get a drink (or two, or...) at Tobacco Road. You can monitor the line at Syd's and get up when the time is right.

The room looks okay. Just remember to keep it down...don't want to disturb the "Nieghbors". (Apparently that's how they spell it in Alaska)...

Say "Hi" to Ginger and MaryAnn. All of a sudden, the game "Who Would You Rather?" popped into my head.

Please post a reminder over here (or a link to your Cunard report). Us old folks (speaking for myself) have limited memories and may miss your adventure otherwise...

Notice that I said "at first". About one second later it dawned on my that in this case, CC meant credit card.

So...if you're Platinum or above, there really is no advantage other than the slightly larger bathroom?

At first I was confused. Why would they ask for a Cruise Critic number? Anyway... I, too was a bit apprehensive about the process, since this was the first time booking as Platinum. However, we were able to very easily book our FAS Specialty Restaurants, as well as our Platinum restaurants online. Took a total of about five minutes. Just need to remember to do them in the proper order.

Keep in mind the context of the conversation. It was comparing cruises to Hawaii and Croatia. They said if you've been to the Caribbean, Hawaii is great but not as dissimilar as going to Croatia (where that is an entirely different experience than island hopping). We'll (hopefully) probably end up doing both places at some point.

As long as they don't drop "Choir of Man" on our upcoming cruise. (They can drop it after...)😁

The other day, friends of ours approached us about doing a Hawaii cruise in 2026. (Not the NCL Pride of America...another one that goes across the Pacific and back). That is appealing, since all of us hate flying any more than absolutely necessary. Plus we love sea days. Neither they, nor us, have been to Hawaii. (Well, I was there for a one hour refueling stop on the way back from Thailand in my Army days). But I digress... Anyway, our crackerjack TA and her husband were over for dinner last night. They have been everywhere imaginable (multiple times) and when we told them about this, they looked at us with that "What...are you crazy?" look. They then said, "I thought you had your hearts set on doing a Croatia cruise? Trust us, we've been to Hawaii and Croatia, and the clear choice would be Croatia. Especially if you've already been everywhere in the Caribbean, Hawaii is just another bunch of islands" (their words, not mine). Then they said, "If you do Hawaii, you're much better off doing the NCL cruise since it's seven days in the islands as opposed to four on the Trans-Pacific". We then reminded them of our aversion to flying and four days would be fine. Plus, doing Hawaii in 2026 would mean missing #Schmoopiefest 2026...can't have that. And yes, I realize that the Croatia cruise will require flying. So...bottom line...still waiting for 2026 schedules to come out before we decide anything.

It seems like renting cars is the obvious choice of people who have done this cruise. However, what about the logistics of renting cars? Reserving the rental car(s)...getting to the rental car...returning the rental car...getting back to the port after returning the rental car,,,parking the rental car in the overnight ports, etc. Seems like a lot of hoop jumping/stress. Is it as bad as I'm picturing it?

Now that you're back on dry ground, I can stop navigating to the Princess page for a while. Those couple extra mouse clicks to jump from the NCL page are exhausting for an old guy. Thanks for another wild/exhausting/exhilarating trip that I had the honor (honour?) of living vicariously. Looking forward to the next escapade of @YVRteacher(and Dad). Still holding out hope that you will be able to book #Schmoopiefest.

Exactly. This is on a par with people asking, "Is ________ worth it?" What's worth it to you may not be worth it to me. Everyone's "worth it" is different.