Nebr.cruiser

The Love Boat Dream hasn't been the same as it was originally for quite a few years. Now it looks even worse!

I really dislike taking pictures with my phone--although I do sometimes--so I carry a small camera instead. I also wear a watch. Guess I'm a Luddite.

I've never taken my phone around the ship either--it stays in the safe. However, times they are-a-changing and I may have to break down and carry it. I will either put it in the small bag I take to the pool area or a small cross body. I actually found one at Dollar tree that is just the right size for a cell phone.

I wear something similar, although mine fit more loosely and are more like a sundress--kind of A-line. Sometimes I just wear running shorts and a tee.

Sticky question. The only reason I'd support it is that (Hopefully) this would take care of the cruisers who remove tips, since I assume that the tips would be included in the cruise price and couldn't be removed. Otherwise, if you don't remove tips, it's just semantics; for some, 'all inclusive' sounds better, even if the price ends up being the same. I mean, I can do math; a $1000 cruise where I leave the auto tip of $150 on is the same as the same cruise with tips include for $1150. We often book with travel agents who throw in the tips as a perk, which is nice. As someone mentioned, it might make insurance more expensive.

Probably our African Safari--at least $6000, maybe more. It will soon be surpassed by a five week trip to Australia and New Zealand including two cruises and about 10-12 days of land tours/sightseeing.

Thank you. I was arriving at that conclusion myself, but I guess just hoping it was feasible!

We are doing a Princess cruise up the coast to Cairns followed by a RCI cruise to New Zealand. We have 5 days between cruises, but that counts the day we arrive and the day we sail out. We want to go to Uluru for those days. We definitely do not want to try to fly back on the day the RCI cruise sails. Do you think we would have time to catch a 10:50 flight to Uluru after our Princess cruise? The ship arrives at 6 AM, but of course we realize that doesn't mean we could debark immediately. If we could get the earliest walk off time, could we normally get to the airport in time for that flight? That is for a 3 day tour. There is also a 2 day tour, which means we could leave Sydney the next day. We'd just prefer the 3 day. Thanks! Shoot. Edit to say flights seem to leave at 10:20!

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.