Nebr.cruiser

Never in 40+ cruises, but then we mostly don't drink and if we want a pop or something just buy it on shore.

I can get by with 3: walking shoes which I wear on the plane, sandals and wedges for evening. But I usually bring another pair of sandals, since I have had blister/pain problems if not switching out shoes and if room another pair of shoes for evenings. I only take water shoes if I know I will need them. Luckily my feet are smallish and so shoes don't take too much room. I can get them in a carry on bag and a large tote I take as my personal item; it has shoe storage in the bottom.

I haven't had a room under the skywalk, but used it many times on a recent cruise when doing walking laps (it was too windy on the walking track). I honestly never noticed people's balconies--just the sea below. It was also very seldom used by others.

We actually 'got' to see two carpet showrooms in Turkey, one is Istanbul, one is the Ephesus area. Luckily, neither one were high pressure and I kind of enjoyed them. We weren't locked in or kept very long. Both were independent tours with the same company and the Ephesus one included a nice meal.

On our March cruise we didn't make any reservations, just showed up when we wanted to eat. We had little to no waits most nights. However, we prefer to eat later, usually around 8 or so, after the first show. We also ate at a specialty restaurant by just walking up and asking, after trying to make a reservation bly phone and being toldall were full. We waited maybe 20 minutes for a table.

We often book at 2-3 months out, or even closer and do get some great deals. However, it depends a lot on if we can get reasonable air (we usually use miles) and the itinerary. This works best if you are very open to where the cruise goes, which cruise line, cabin type, etc. If you have a particular cruise that you really want due to itinerary or other factors, you would be taking a chance that it will sell out or actually go up. Many times if you go ahead and book and prices go down you can get the new price--works best, usually, with a travel agent.

I agree about the many who seem to want early dining. I just don't get it, in fact we much prefer to eat later, usually around 8, after the first show, or even later. I'm not ready to eat at 5:30 or six, hate rushing to get ready that early and enjoy the shorter (if any) lines to get into the dining room. That said, we're not especially fond of long drawn out meals either and usually eat by ourselves or with our travel companions, if we have any. We don't eat particularly early at home either. Also, we are not really hungry so early, having, unfortunately, eaten more during the day than we would normally and often enjoying a snack late afternoon after a day of touring or enjoying ship time.

On our March cruise my sister didn't do any of the app stuff and it took about two minutes for them to check her in. About the same time as us. For us, the medallion was mostly useless except as a door opener.-

We'd rather not be by the noisy busy pool, don't drink, so drink packages mean nothing, and purposely look for cabins by the elevators, just to name a few 'unpopular' opinions. We have others! Oh yes, don't like the current trend of having many more and more things that need our phones to access easily. I don't want to carry my phone everywhere!

I like Sketchers too but have a horrible problem with the dreaded sock-eating. I must have a narrow heel or something because this is a common problem for me--but worse with Sketchers.

That's interesting and good to hear. They used to do it in one of the lougges not the big show room, I assume because of the rotating stage. Maybe they have worked out a different staging. I'd love to see it again!

I prefer the Fort Lauderdale airport, but usually then we are sailing out of Port Everglades, which is only about 10 minutes away. It's really not a big deal to get from the Fort Lauderdale airport to Miami, maybe 45 minutes depending on traffic, but If sailing out of Miami I'd certainly check out flying into Miami first. It would depend on air cost as well as hotel cost. Usually Fort Lauderdale does have some cheaper hotel prices. The Miami airport would be more convenient, if sailing out of Miami, so for us it would come down to price, considering transportation from Fort Lauderdale to Miami as well as air and hotel costs.

We rarely book cruise line excursions--as others have said, only if getting back to the ship on time, due to distance from port, is a worry, or if there is no other feasible way to see a certain site. We DIY in most Caribbean ports or book an independent tour ahead of time, using these boards for recommendations, or sometimes pick up a tour right at the port. Only once have we gotten back to the ship by the hair of our teeth, with a supposedly reputable private driver. San Juan is extremely easy to explore on your own if walking is not a problem. The forts are easily walkable and it is a lovely city to explore on your own. We've been to St. Thomas so many times we mostly just walk downtown and explore a little, or pick up an excursion to go to a beach at the dock. Same for St. Maarten: we have taken tours, never a ship tour, but now usually just walk to the beach for a nice meal or snack. We've only been to the Dominican Republic once. We picked up a taxi tour at the port which was very nice, although the driver's English was iffy. But we enjoyed it anyway. It all depends on your comfort level, but like many, we do not like the ship tours.

It's one of my favorite Princess shows. In the round, with a rotsting platform, so can't be performed on many ships

If you mean going home, I don't think it should be a problem, barring some really unusual situation where the ship docks very late. (Unlikely). You can choose to do self-embark and get off very early, but I don't think it is necessary. With that flight time you will probably get one of the earlier debark times anyway. We have easily made flights around 12.

Expect warm to hot. the northern islands (Bahamas, for example) will be slightly cooler, but I've never been cold on one of the islands. The evenings can be coolish, so bring a sweater and/or light jacket. It also depends on which port you are sailing out of. Usually (barring an unusual cold front), Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are warm. Port Canavarel can be cooler, as well as New Orleans and Galveston.

We like the older ships, such as the Ruby, mostly because they have a true promenade deck. I hate that almost all new ships no longer have that; not just Princess, but most lines. Also, some of the older ships seem to be easier to navigate. I also like a Princess ship that has the International Cafe.

You will probably have time to make it, but it will be tight. We also found the place to pick up the tour difficult to find. We enjoyed the day, but many of the above comments are also true. The snorkeling was not good at all; unfortunately true for most places in the Caribbean now. The seas was not rough the day we were there. Murky water at the wreck and other site and little sea life to see. The meal was ok, I enjoyed the rope swinging myself, both watching and doing, and didn't notice it rocking the boat, but I don't normally get sea sick. The worst thing about the tour was that the dancing got extremely raunchy--there were children on the boat and It made me uncomfortable. Also very loud music. Would we do it again? Maybe.

We've only sailed out of Galveston once, very early December. The first and last days were very cool and it didn't really warm up much until we hit the islands. Probably pretty common in the winter months.

Either that or I just use the bar of soap. Works fine. Now, you may have to ask for one.

I saw one of those ducks ono ur last cruise; didn't know what to do with it so just left it. It seems kind of silly to me, but to each their own.

You will need to do a lot of research--the port of call boards on these forums and your roll call will help--but I think you should easily be able to do most tours in that price range. It was quite a bit less when we last toured in the Med, but that was some time ago. Private (just you) tours will of course be more expensive than groups of 6-15 or so. Guidebooks and other online research can narrow down what you want to see as well. We never take ship tours unless absolutely necessary because of logistics, ie a difficult port where it might be iffy to get back to the ship in time.

Sure. Although some ports are far from any shopping, sights, etc. and might require some walking or a shuttle, etc. to get out of the dock areas. As far as I know, this wouldn't be a problem at most Alaskan ports. If you have to tender, going back to the ship is still doable, but a pain.

Very true. There are so many wonderful places to see, so little time--as well as financial and other considerations. We have seen so much of the world, mostly, but not all, on cruises, and many of these places, at our age, we will probably never see again. At least we got that one day shore excursion to see the Acropolis, Blue Mosque, St. Michael's Mont, etc., if we never get to go back. We are 76 and 77. This winter we are doing 5 weeks in Australia and New Zealand, including two cruises and about a week of land touring. Will we ever get back? Unlikely. Same for many other places. We also like places like the Caribbean, which we've cruised multiple times, just for the warm weather in the winter and the ship and being able to be very laid back in ports.

For us it's cost and convenience, plus we like being at sea. Yes, we do land tours and independent travel too, but cruising is just easier in many ways and usually much more cost efficient. We sometimes spend a few extra days before or after, but most often do the cruise only. The meals, entertainment and service are bonuses. Some complain about not getting in-depth knowledge of places on a cruise, but for us it would be difficult to, for example, spend a day in Athens, two days in Istanbul, see Ephesus, Mykonos, Santorini, the Amalfi Coast and Naples all in one trip without really difficult logistical problems and a great deal of planning and cost, not to mention all the packing and unpacking and getting to airports, etc.