GoHuskies!
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Posts posted by GoHuskies!
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Oh this is so frustrating! I'd like to say it's a secret code, but after checking and checking and fixing my first couple of posts, I thought I had it fixed, but I was obviously lulled into a false sense of security. I don't know why it does that - it looks good, and then when I preview post it changes all the words to join them together. Aargh. Can I blame Florence? She's not a great editor.
Hey, don't sweat it, Marla. We are (or should be) able to parse the words apart as we go. My keyboard does something even worse--as I write along, the cursor jumps up (or down) sometimes several lines to the middle of something else, making gibberish of a whole paragraph! And since my eyes may be on neither screen nor keyboard, I may not know of the problem for a while--and it takes time to even find it!
When I am writing a log such as you are doing, I seedon't worry it as pretty much the rough draft and --OK, there's an example of what I just mentioned. So I go on-- I see it as pretty much the rough draft and don't worry about its presentation until later. But this keyboard/computer (which is an Apple MacPro laptop) does this without warning, just occasionally. (Otherwise I absolutely love the computer, having left the Windows environment and its slowness and problems behind). Keep on writing just as you are and let us worry the words apart. Great Job! We will be on the Island for the canal trip on Sept. 23, so I'm particularly interested in Florence's take on the cruise.
Jim and Norita--from south of Tucson, Arizona, where the thought of three feet of snow just can't register in our sun-baked minds! Although we retired here from western Washington, as waterlogged a set of people as you ever saw. When we first arrived here, I opened the trunk of the car and a huge cloud of moisture billowed out!
Today is Mother's Day--it was 104 degrees yesterday but the humidity was only 8%. Now that is a DRY heat!
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I went through the locks on a trip from LA to New Orleans, the first ship arriving in NOLA after hurricane Katrina. In some respects this trip, round trip from LA, may be more interesting going through Panama. We will turn around in Gatun lake, true, but the Gatun Locks are the only thing we will miss. The lake is way along the route through Panama (just look at a map of Panama), so that when we turn we will have seen nearly the entire route, and then get to see it again on the way back, and on the other side of the ship. The ship will be quite a way through Gatun Lake before it will have enough room in the dredged channel to turn around. The lake itself is a place to see many ships of different types, waiting their turn to go through locks--and also to kill some saltwater growth on their bottoms, I suppose. Also, the Gatun locks are a single set and open immediately into the Caribbean, whereas the Miraflores locks and the Pedro Miguel locks are more extensive and in my mind, more interesting, including the Bridge of the Americas, the Centennial bridge and more shoreside activities. The ship traffic in the Lake will include those who are now using the new, expanded locks in addition to ours. So when I first thought about this cruise I was sorry we would miss the Gatun locks--but when I pulled out my pictures and notes from my other cruise, I realized that the great interest will be what we see on this cruise. I think we will all enjoy the cruise.
Jim
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Never saw hockey on Princess. Soccer, baseball, basketball, and cricket
You actually got these sports on a Princess ship??? How lucky. On board my first Princess cruise, the Star Princess, which was filled with octogenerians, wheelchairs, walkers and canes, they showed NOTHING BUT SNOWBOARDING 24/7, for the length of the cruise. No football. No soccer. No baseball. Not even auto racing. No nothing except for snowboarding, as though the person running the TV shows were addicted to snowboarding and only had the one tape, playing it over and over. This was in September, 2015, Vancouver to Hawaii RT.
Does anyone think that this was an appropriate choice? I am concerned about what may show up on our tv on the Island Princess this year. Can anyone encourage me about what I may find on the cabin TV?
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Well, I have read all seven pages of your great blog--didn't even find it to begin reading until yesterday. I;m looking forward to future tomes of yours from various cruises. I'm wondering, if Florence blushes, is it in the black or white stripes?
I absolutely give your writing an A+, which is something I rarely ever did as a teacher of creative writing, either in my high school or my college classes. Great job.
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Did you see the reclining chubby lady statue in Cartagena? The rather, shall we say, robust, reclining naked lady? If you touched her on a certain private area on her chest, it was said you would return to Cartagena.
Ever since, my husband has called me Princess Cartagena. Due to my, shall we say, robust, figure.
Speaking of "robust" statues, have any of you seen the bronzes in the large lobby area of the Grand Wailea hotel on Maui? There are quite a few of these--mostly recumbent figures, all beautifully sculpted, all at double (or more) human scale. And the models were obviously fed at cruise ship buffets, very bulbous, nearly bursting. Once I saw a worker there dusting off these statues and he was reluctant to actually touch the large, protruding hip of this naked lady as she lay there in her unclothed, shiny splendor--so he kept his distance and used his dust cloth as a fan, hoping that would do the trick without compromising his sensibilities!
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There are coffee machines in the cabins? Not in any cabin I've ever been in. You can order coffee in or take an early morning walk and go get some. Or just get up and go to breakfast and get it there.
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I haven't seen coffee machines in the cabins either. Being something of a coffee nut, I have traveled with a small french press and a grinder plus a heater to heat water, a cup heater with a drip funnel and filters on my cup, and finally just get coffee from either room service or the buffet. Going on your own to brew coffee may be very satisfying but can be pretty messy if you don't plan ahead what to do with the spent grounds. Also they frown on the heaters. My advice: buy a coffee card.
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Has anyone recently encountered Charade Quartet on any ship? It is a group of four Polish guys, piano, accordion, bass and violin. I saw them a number of times on Celebrity. I think they left CB and went to Princess. I would like to know where they are now...thanks
Yes--we saw them many times on a Star Princess cruise that we just finished on Sunday, 15 days to Hawaii and back from Vancouver. Fantastic group--we saw them every chance we got. The accordion player told me their contract will be finished about a month from now and they will be back home in Poland. Hopefully we can find them at charadequartet.com, but I am still looking.
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I have 91,000 world points right now. I was hoping to get to 100,000 to have a $1,000.00 OBC for my cruise in June 2014. Does anyone know if I redeem the points by 9/30 for an OBC, will it still be valid for my cruise in June? Obviously I won't make the 100,000 points by the end of the month. Can I ask for multiple OBC and use them on one cruise? Redeem 50,000 for $500.00 then redeem 25,000 for $250.00 etc. I guess I am going to get rid of this credit card. The whole point of it was to get the NCL cruise rewards. If they no longer offer that, I might as well get a Southwest Airlines or Jet Blue cc. I know they have annual fees. This is disappointing but I am so happy I found this thread. If they mailed me the info on the cruise rewards, I never read it. Thanks to whomever posted about the change in cruise rewards.
Having had some OBC issues with NCL over the years, I make it a lot simpler. Every time I accumulate 25,000 points I redeem that amount for cash, $250. It may not be as romantic appearing as an OBC but there is never a question.
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Relatively new to the NCL Worldcard world and trying to figure out how best to use my rewards. I have a few points over 25k points and understand from reading the BOA website that I can get $250obc or $250 check from BOA. I understood from reading on here that the cash back would be less than the obc but it's the same according to what I just read....did I miss something?
Thanks for any advice.
Having done the OBC vs cashback thing a few times now with NCL, I will ALWAYS take the cash in the future. When you choose OBC, you always have to check the statement late in the cruise to make sure it's been credited, and if it hasn't, it means at least a trip to the desk if not further problems getting it cleared. With the cash, it's a matter of a few clicks of the mouse and bang, there is a check in your mailbox. A no-brainer to me. It is true that cash only equals OBC when you reach the level of $250, however; I cash in whenever I reach that, and I can use it any darn old way I want. :cool:
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Carmelita- Yes, I think that will be sufficient. Take that email with you when you cruise and visit the purser's desk part way through the cruise to verify that they have it credited to your onboard account.
(Don't try to go to the purser's desk- AKA guest services- on the first day- too hectic! Also, do it on a "work day" for NCL headquarters in case the ship needs to contact the main office.)
Carmelita--
NO, I do not think that an email is sufficient. I tried that very thing last year on the Jade, and since the OBC had not been credited to my onboard account, they did nothing for me. And as to the ship "contacting the main office", they refused to do so or do anything out of the usual routine, which was to check the onboard account. That is one of the reasons that I no longer sail with NCL.
I have had many, many contacts with NCL over this and they have done absolutely nothing to satisfy their debt to me of a piddling $100. So I take my several thousands of dollars each year to other cruise lines.
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I've used Nile Blue tours in past and loved them, going back next year, but can't seem to find the contact information. Does anyone have their email available?
This is the email address I have from an email they sent me:
Good luck.
Jim
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You're right--BOA should give you full value of credit earned. However, since they do publish their Rewards rates, I found it best to wait until I had 25,000 points earned and then got the full $250. I did this very recently and now hardly ever use a BOA card.
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***I think I get it now, wasn't sure why you would think $200 cash back would be better than the $200 OBC. ***
Thanks for the advice !?!
I just cashed in 20,000 points
and BoA let me know that they are happy to send me a check for $160.00 NOT $200.
Maybe I should have taken the on board credits ?
My advice: TAKE THE CHECK AND RUN! Why? See my post just below. I've lost my trust in OBCs.
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Take a good look at my signature line below, because you won't see any more NCL cruises added in the future. Last December we took the 12-day cruise around the Mediterranean Sea on the Jade and had a great time, good cruise and good ship. But they disallowed a $100 OBC that I had coming through a promotion in the Fall. I complied with every single detail of the rules and should have been given the OBC. I've written this issue up several times, with my TA, with my NCL representative, and with NCL itself (which by the way absolutely ignored me and did not reply), and I've concluded that for the lack of a $100 OBC, they have lost many thousands of dollars in revenue from me. I will not cruise Norwegian Cruise Lines again unless by some miracle this issue is resolved and they send me $100.
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I'm glad you asked about Nile Blue--now I can recommend them, and I do so very highly. We were a part of a good-sized Cruise Critic group (as I recall, over 100) who cruised to Egypt on the Jade in December 2010--and we used Nile Blue. I don't know how they made it such a memorable yet personable experience, considering the number of people, but they were just excellent. The guides were valuable and knowledgeable, intelligent and educated, with accents that were easy to understand.
Please remember that Egypt in the winter is COLD!! Even with leather coats and plenty of preparation, we froze our tails watching the light show at the pyramids. Which, I hasten to add, was not worth either the cost or the time. And neither was the included dinner, which was served in a dusty and cold tent. A few lasers on the cliff face, the face of the Sphinx and the pyramids was the extent of it, and I would have much preferred a dinner cruise on the Nile instead, in retrospect.
We were fortunate--all hell broke loose just weeks later in Cairo, as everyone knows. But our time with Nile Blue was a superior experience.
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Precisely our feeling, Old Sole. We were on your bus too and experienced a wonderful tour through the efforts of Nile Blue Excursions. Someone earlier asked whether this was Nile Blue Tours or Nile Blue Excursions, and as I understand it a month or so ago they changed the name to better fit what they do, but it is the same company.
Here I was, all loaded with good things to say about Nile Blue, and you said all the right things first! Norita and I thought that Nile Blue, and Dalia, our tour guide, were superb. I do not know how they could have exceeded what they did for us--we saw sites that we did not expect to see plus those we did; the expertise of our guide was very high; and to top it off, the price was, as said before, only half what the ship was offering. We were never rushed, we had great security, and we felt welcome. We had a plainclothes policeman with us, with an obvious machine pistol under his jacket, making himself clear to anyone approaching our group and even fending off some of the cloud of vultures--I mean street vendors--that swarmed us. Dalia made sure that our meals in each restaurant were ready for us, and were first class. She flew into action when she discovered the one glitch where lunch was delayed because of the power outage. And concluding the payment for the tour was easy, clear and friendly. Ghada, part owner and executive manager, spoke English like a native American and set us all at ease during the whole tour.
I absolutely recommend Nile Blue for any excursions you wish to take.
Jim & Norita
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And yes, the bank account I used was not BofA--it was another bank.
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Go to your BoA acct and log in
See the "rewards" tab ? There should be four, and rewards is on the far right. Click on it
Scroll to the bottom of the page. You will have nine options of things like "gift cards" etc. The very last one is "cash deposits" or something like that. Click on it (not the one that says cash)
Next screen gives you the option to add accounts (which you have to do before you can redeem) or redeem. It is pretty self explanatory and no different than most sites where you enter your bank info. The money will be deposited into your checking or savings acct. It does not have to be a BoA bank - I use a little local bank and they found it in about a week or two.
After clicking the "Rewards" tab, down on the bottom of the new page you will see a button "Deposit cash rewards"--click on it. Then you can choose which of your accounts you want the cash deposited into, and at that point you should add this account (very easy--all the data you enter is on your check, for a checking account). Then choose that account and choose the amount of points to be transferred. Yes, to get the 1% you have to meet the minimums, but if you use the card regularly this should not be a problem.
I just did all this on Friday of last week and the $500 was in my bank checking account by Tuesday morning. Piece of cake--and a whole lot easier than the possible hassles proving anything with NCL to get either money credited to the cruise or OBC. ;)
Hockey on TV
in Princess Cruises
Posted
Yes, it was a prerecorded video of what I think was an Olympic snowboarding match. One. Not two, not any other either. Can't think of how long ago it had to have been recorded, but I did recognize it. I'm not looking for a wide range as you find on TV at home--just an alternative. And on an over-two-week cruise with my compatriots in age, this single-event tape loop was unacceptable. Sure, the ship offers ay more alternatives, but that is not a real excuse.