Nebr.cruiser

Travel from Houston to Galveston is always a problem and not cheap. We have used shared bus travel, but it takes a long time with often quite a few stops to pick up others. That is cheaper, but less convenient. Next time we will look into Uber, Lyft or even cruise transfers. This would be a great port for a fast train to Galveston, but of course that would cost a lot to get all the infrastructure going. Miss some of the great train/subway/bus/etc. transport in Europe and Australia!

I would try to find a tour that takes you to several places. Although we ported at a nearby port, not Monaco, we did an independent tour that took us to Monaco, St. Paul Vence, Nice and Eze. We greatly enjoyed it all, but especially St. Paul de Vence.

We ;have sailed on it once, 15 times on other ships. It's our least favorite ship, although we still had a good tim--we've never had a bad cruise on more than 50, some better than others of course. . I mostly miss the International Cafe and did notice it seemed more crowded. Unless a great deal or itinerary, we do avoid this ship.

We've only purchased cruise line insurance once, and not late, so I don't know the rules with that. And I realize there can be significant restrictions purchasing insurance late, sometimes. Purchasing last minute is not a good option, but in most cases can be done. It probably will not be as good as insurance purchased earlier and more expensive.

We don't have block scheduling here, at least where I live. Most schools get out around May 20th, Seniors graduate a week or two earlier. I just object to kids (and teachers) losing summer days in August being in school, and not all families can vacation in early summer, especially farm families. I taught elementary, at that time school started later in August, but some days were 90 degrees in my classroom. Guess how much learning was achieved? At least most schools are air conditioned now. I do appreciate that the early August start probably works better in some circumstances. I guess because I love summer, I don't like to see kids missing nearly a month of it.

And here in Nebraska schools start around August 10th! Much too early, IMO.

You can purchase it at any time. The caveat is that many times pre-existing conditions will not be covered, or if they are, the prices may be very high. I agree, check with Insure my Trip, or similar sites. They have been very helpful.

I get what you are saying. For us, all the options to spend lots of extra money mean nothing, as we rarely drink, don't even drink soda, only go to specialty restaurants if we have lots of OBC, never go to the spa and very seldom buy ships tours, so the base price works great. We can get along without wifi, but with Princess we have a cheaper plan because of being Elite. You just have to do the math. If you want alcohol, spa, specialty meals, etc., etc., etc.,and will feel deprived otherwise, maybe it's time to bite the bullet. I don't think you will find almost any cruise line much different. We have a really great cruise and do everything that's important to us without spending extra. But, if you will feel deprived by skipping many of the add-ons, maybe it is time to cancel. We feel the basic room price (we always get a balcony) provides a very nice experience. Luxury lines will have most of the above included, but at a very much higher price. We always pay the gratuity though.

We have only booked reservations ahead a couple of nights in all our 50+ cruises--not all with Princess, but we have cruised 16 times with them, at least. If you want to eat early, reservations will probably help. We prefer to go to the first show and eat about eight. We always ask for a table for two, unless we are cruising with others. Normally we have almost no wait to maybe 10 minutes. The few times the wait has been longer, they gave us a buzzer. Even then I doubt if we waited more than 15 minutes. All the main dining rooms have the same food. If you are concerned about missing an event, tell the waiters you want to be done by a certain time and they will do their best to expedite service. Really, we have very few issues with just going when we want, but expect longer waits if you are dining early.

We generally book at least a couple of months in advance. Last year we booked a cruise from Galveston just a few days before sailing because it was so cheap, and we otherwise had to wait in South Texas to complete a dentist appointment. Be on a cruise for a week in a balcony for less than a week in a hotel? No brainer. The cruise was around $500 pp. The only problem was getting last minute air (we use miles) into Houston and the very long transfer to Galveston. Also, returning, long, long layover due to flight schedules. But it was a great cruise.

We live in Nebr. too, in a rural area, and have always been able to have Medallions shipped here. However, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You can just pick up a Medallion at the port. My sisters have done that a couple of times and it was very fast-- like 5 minutes max. I have heard that sometimes it does slow things down on check-in, but that has not been our experience, and even then, you will get on the ship! Phone reps seem to be almost useless.

As a short person, many of the chairs were so deep that if my back touched the back of the chair, my legs kind of stuck straight out, like a toddler, so uncomfortable. Very low also. I'm not sure just what shaped person could sit in them comfortably.

We did that too--and we seldom do ship tours. It was fine. We knew it was just transportation, which is what we wanted. The only other ship tours we have taken in many years was on a Panama Canal partial, with no other options, to a village (it was a great tour) and last year on a cruise up to Port Douglas in Australia where, due to tendering, it was not possible to book independent tours; at least I couldn't find any. The ship tours were fine, if not spectacular.

Right. Chairs were so uncomfortable--like much 'modern' furniture. Looks great, sits awful.

I have some from Sketchers that work very well for lower cut shoes, and, they don't slip off the heel!

We're normally with you Hlitner. Few ship tours for ud. ByWe did find last year cruising from Sydney to Port Douglas that ship tours were the only viable option if we actually wanted to go to the reef due to logistics. I looked hard and long and private excursions just didn't work with the tendering needed. We didn't have excursion credit, so that wasn't an issue. We've never sailed with excursion credits, did not realize these were non refundable if the tour was canceled, so good to know.

We found it to be extremely difficult/impossible to do a non-ship Great Barrier Reef tour because of the logistics; that is, all the ports were tender ports and there just wasn't time to do an independent excursion. We almost never do ship tours but did in all the ports up to Port Douglas just because of this problem. They were all pretty decent tours, just more than we would normally pay.

It means you will get a table. Wait times will vary from almost none to 20 minutes or so. This is largely dependent on when you get there. Early times are usually much more crowded. Also less wait normally if you will share a table. We usually eat around 8 and have not much of a wait; we ask for a table for two when alone and dont make reservations. You may be given a pager if wait times are long. I don't think we've ever waited 20 minutes.

Thank you. Unfortunately he is still having problems, although somewhat better. Probably still not ready to cruise.

I can't speak to Celebrity, but on Princess and RCI my sister (other sister could not go last minute) did not have to pay a single rate. As advised, ill sister was just a no-show.

This happened to our party last year, although on Princess and Royal Caribbean in Australia and New Zealand. My sisters were sharing a room, and one had to cancel at the last minute due to health problems. We were advised not to cancel but just do a no-show. The sister who could not go did lose her money, except for fees and taxes (insurance did not cover because she cancelled so late), but the other sister just went with no consequences such as having to pay double.

The idea that you shouldn't cruise if you don't drink is ludicrous. On over 50 cruises I don't think I have ever bought a drink. I've had a few 'free' champagnes, but normally I don't drink, I just don't get the appeal. Not a teetotalar, have wine a few times a year, but it's just meh to me. We manage to have a great time! I will say we don't take short, party-style cruises, mostly 10 days or longer, but even on 7 day cruises have noticed few problems.

I'm from the US and to me Vagabond is more like someone who is carefree and lives an uncluttered, free lifestyle, mostly traveling from place to place, perhaps in an unplanned spontaneous way. So not everyone here sees being a vagabond as a negative.

I also find it to be more crowded feeling with the added cabins. I hate the trend of less outdoor space and more cabins and/or venues that cost to use. I also really dislike ships without a true promenade deck.

You are right, of course. I believe it was only $128 pp. So worth the price! We had an awesome price on this cruise, but it was still slightly over $3000.