canadjineh

I forgot to bring our heavy duty magnetic hooks for our cabin walls this last cruise... this meant that the desktop was always under a sea of papers, tickets, 'tomorrow's events' and other paper detritus that you just know you will need as soon as you throw it out and your cabin steward empties your bins. We usually use one to post items we need to see prominently on one wall. I also like to hang our provided robes on them right beside the bed, for when I get up in the morning. Unfortunately, Princess (this last cruise) didn't provide robes. I may switch back to my favorite cruise lines for the next cruises, but will remember to bring the hooks. Also we usually take a couple of those little electronic tea lights to stick in the bathroom for midnight visits without having to turn the bright ones on. Another reason to not cruise Princess....their lights turn on with movement and the full-on hallway light goes on, blinding you on the way to the biffy at 2AM. It's way darker in our home bedroom at night than in an inside cabin on Princess. I can even read my non-illuminated watch in an interior Princess cabin at night. Almost forgot to add: a pack of proper medical face masks, and extra hand sanitizer for when the stations at the buffet run out.

That's what my husband & I do. He needs to take certain medical supplies now that he is older and has had a few surgeries, but that means I get to throw in more shoes 😍👡and fancier dresses that I wouldn't be taking if we were still in our pre-cruising days with just carry-on and a largish purse/tote. Besides, once he uses up most of his supplies we can fill that space with gifts & souvenirs.

Hey JVes: We just got back from a 10 day Princess cruise (our first on that line) along the Eastern Coast of Canada & Northern US. One thing I will say is try to get to all the musical acts on board - their live bands are terrific and their invited musical entertainers were awesome, as were the theatre song & dance productions. That being said, their food in the MainDiningRooms is DULL - no interesting international menus like on Holland America. My only two meals there out of all the dining we did were tough and overcooked - even veggies like eggplant/aubergine. If you want to vary your drinks w/o paying for a soda/or alcohol pkg. I suggest buying those fancy packet cocoas before you get on the ship to make flavoured mochas with the included Lavazza coffee or just a hot cocoa in the evening - we took quite a few like mint, raspberry, orange, 'Irish Cream', and banana cocoa. Other than that, all the included herbal teas, decent coffee, unsweetened ice tea, lemonade, orange and apple juice were enough for our drink purposes besides the two bottles of wine we were allowed to bring aboard for our cabin. If you get the chance and can afford it, pay for the specialty dining in Sabatini's one night, especially near the beginning of the cruise. It's emptier then and even more attention from your serving staff. And come hungry - multicourse wonderful Italian food (and I'm Italian.) On our ship it was very hit & miss on the quality in the Crown Grill according to a straw poll. We also found the MDR extremely noisy - bad acoustics echo and amplify everyone's voice when it's busy. Lots of people on our ship got quite dressed up - some gorgeous iridescent long gowns, amazing jewellery (real or not, who cares), men in beautiful classy suits and even an actual tux or two. Also some ladies in very fancy young & trendy pant ensembles. However you choose to do it, just own it! We saw all sorts of shoes from teetering high heels (don't ask me how they didn't fall on their face, or twist an ankle) to lovely little flats and wedges. Maybe you can dress up your shoes with shoe clips or lacy anklets or whatever. If you want to do anything Spa, book for a port day - it's cheaper. Have Fun!!! Oh, and please check back on this thread to fill us in on how things went when you get home.

We've decided to go it on our own in Bar Harbor. At Recreation.gov we bought our hike/cyclist passes ($20.00 each) for the entrance fee. Going to pick up the Cadillac Mtn Summit Shuttle (you can Google it) for $10 pp each way - pay on the shuttle bus - goes up on the hour, back on the 1/2 hr. For $40 each, or less if we decide to hike down instead of ride both ways, we figure that will leave lots of money for a good lobster dinner after. BTW, low tide on Friday Oct 6 is at 10:54 if anyone wants to walk over the sandbar to Bar Island. (sandbar is doable for approx 3 hrs) I checked the tide tables online yesterday. Looks like tons of good trails in the park and nice walks around town too.

I do enjoy the convenience of having both a USD account and a EUR account at my Canadian bank, since I can buy when the rates are more favourable to stock my accounts for use on our next trips. Only thing I wish is that I could get the money from my EUR account at any of my bank's branches worldwide, instead of only having it available at my home branch. Maybe that will come in time...

Hi, we were in for a short port call on an early Sept Alaska cruise. Google 'live music in Victoria' for a schedule of a little private club downtown that has great blues bands in a small venue. They started early and were done by 9 or 10. Not sure about Sunday tho, but def. worth the google search. We were in quite late and only caught the last song, but they suggested a 'dive bar' immediately next door - it was lots of fun, everyone very friendly, and we had a wild couple of hours of karaoke. I'd return to both places when in Victoria. Sorry so vague, but I'm at work in a firecamp security detail in my province right now and don't have access to my info at home.

Wait til you hit the Maritimes and go for an Alexander Keith's instead. Labatt's is kinda the Budweiser of Canadian beer, lol.

Yes, indeedy! Very common in Washington state where some communities are extremely dependent on cross border shoppers, especially for gas, groceries, and start-of-school kids' clothing promos.

I doubt it, lol. I've found that unless you are in a border town (and even then, not so much), US guides/stores/etc wince when you offer even equiv. $USD value in CAD and won't accept any CAD. On the Eastern Seaboard you may find that they don't even know where your province is. Okay, lol, maybe an overstatement.

All the large banks, and a couple of the smaller ones (less known) have USD accounts available to their account holders so it's almost never a problem if you tip in USD, especially if the recipient is an employee of a tourist oriented business. Cheaper for you if you tip Canadian tho, especially for general purchases. 😉 We have both a Euro account and a USD account at our bank that we use to top up for our different travels when the rates are favourable; I'm sure a lot of other Canadians who work in the tourism/travel industries also have these type of accounts. We are also on a C/NE cruise from end of Sept - early Oct but will be workin' it the other exchange way... withdrawing from our USD account for the US portion of the trip. 😊

Oops, just noticed the comments further along and read the info in the link. Looks like we won't have enough time before our afternoon tour. Next time we're there, I hope.

Can you give us a few details? We've got a bit of extra time in Sydney before our Louisbourg Nat Historic Site tour we'd like to fill. We'll be there Wed, Oct 4. thx 😸

We just took the buses everywhere for 13 pesos each. Same cost all the way from one end of town to the other ie we were by the Marina in the North end just past the Golden Zone, closer to the airport and we went all the way to El Faro and Observatorio in the south end by the cruise port on one fare. No transfers though, as all the buses are privately owned and run by their drivers who pay the union to get their routes. Sabalo-Centro bus route will take you from the Port area thru the center of town to the Cathedral and bandshell and historical centre then join the Malecon frontage road all the way thru the golden zone and on up to the northern marina. This route has all new, modern, air con, long distance style buses. Easy to use - flag the bus down anywhere along the road or sit at a bus stop, your choice. It's easy to take a lovely ride to the historical center of town, walk around there a bit or sit in the park with an ice cream, walk oceanward a couple blocks and you get to the Malecon for a lovely walk along the shore until you get tired, then hop on a bus back to the cruise port area.

Hiya, folks. Our first cruise on a Princess ship and we will be in 'Bahston' 😉 for the day in early Oct. The Museum of Fine Arts looks great as does the Isabelle Gardner Museum. Any other suggestions that aren't food (I have celiac disease) or American Political History? I haven't been thru Boston for about 30 years.

We've used johann & sandra tours in Mazatlan to go see the oceanside petroglyph park and a home cooked meal with a local family. Google Las Labradas tour. We went with them March 2020 just before Covid shut everyone down. We had a great time with a professor guide and student assistant.

Hi momofknt: I have Celiac disease and we travel a lot. We haven't been to PV since just before Covid, but wherever we travel I take a Celiac travel translation card with me. You can get them here: https://www.celiactravel.com/cards/ They've saved me in Cuba, Mexico (in restaurants & grocery stores), and China. Don't forget that sometimes corn tortillas may have a tiny bit of wheat flour in the dough to make them a bit lighter and easier to handle. Definitely ask the cook/server about their tortillas. When in doubt plain rice with the beautiful meats and veg is the safest bet. Watch out for the mole's - some have bread crumbs to thicken - definitely ask first. Our favorite thing to eat is a meal in a molcajete (oven heated stone bowl filled with veggie pieces including nopal, strips of chicken or beef, and a hot melted cheese in the bottom.) Have fun!

We've done Mex Riv with Holland America on the Oosterdam (just under 2000 passengers) and had no sea waves/chop issues in early March. But it leaves from San Diego, so that could be a factor as it's much further down the coast.

Friends of ours use the DiDi app in Mazatlan - like Uber but takes MX cash only. Cheaper. I had it downloaded but didn't use it as we just took the buses everywhere for 13 pesos each. Same cost all the way from one end of town to the other ie we were by the Marina in the North end just past the Golden Zone, closer to the airport and we went all the way to El Faro and Observatorio in the south end by the port on one fare. No transfers though as all the buses are privately owned and run by their drivers who pay the union to get their routes. Sabalo-Centro bus route will take you from the Port area thru the center of town to the Cathedral and bandshell and historical centre then join the Malecon frontage road all the way thru the golden zone and on up to the northern marina. This route has all new, modern, air con, long distance style buses. Easy to use - flag the bus down anywhere along the road or sit at a bus stop, your choice.

If you get the chance to go with your son AND the grandkids in Mazatlan go to the Observatorio directly across from the El Faro lighthouse climb, at the cruise port and commercial port end of town. It is an original military observatory with amazing views in all directions - wonderful history, and also a tropical bird (toucan, parakeet, macaw, flamingo) aviary you can go inside and interact with the birds who are rehabilitated although they cannot be released back to the wild. It's not a bird trick show, although there are a couple tame enough to get close and can be fed a treat or will sit on your head or shoulder. Also lots of iguanas that you go above on skybridge walkways. You can find out about tequila traditionally made, and more info about the site with a good grassy park area to run around in and a small bar for a drink as you overlook the port and town side. Lots of things young grandkids would like with the military history 10 minute film about the place for the adults. You ride up/down in a funicular (price included in entrance) or if you are strong of lung & leg you can walk up through the tropical gardens. We really enjoyed it. Just got back home yesterday.

We totally agree with the above two posters, Ashland gives you two easy and popular spots to get to. We are in Mazatlan right now for a couple weeks, a visit on a HAL ship just before covid-19 (March 2019) convinced us to come for a proper visit asap. It's a beautiful historical city and well worth a bit of a wander in the Centro and Mercado districts if you get the chance.

Hi OP. We are staying in Mazatlan right now for 2 weeks and we feel completely safe coming here. I wouldn't necessarily rent a vehicle on my own and go out to the countryside or to Culiacan right now, but we walk all over town on our own, grocery shop, and take the busses regularly without issue. It's as safe as any other city of 1/2 million. You'll have a nice time on your tours. Just fyi, Canada gov't website says "Sinoloa as a state should be a no go for non-essential travel EXCEPT Mazatlan." There's a ton of older folks from all over who are staying for the winter and doing fine.

Hi TravelMamaBear23: Here's the reviews site for UnCruise Adventures on the CruiseCritic boards. https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/un-cruise-adventures-cruises/cl/

WOW! I just looked at their site. Gorgeous work and amazing craftsmanship.

You might have to sacrifice a bit at either focus....you won't have as much room or as many menu/restaurant choices on a smaller expedition sized ship, or you won't have as exciting or in-depth 'shore' excursions on a larger, cushier ship. You may just have to decide which is a bit more important to you. A couple of small expedition type ships you could look at on these boards are American Queen Voyages: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2841780-all-ocean-victory-alaska-2022-cruises/ For a very small expedition ship you could try UnCruise Adventures (75-85 passengers.) Something you might want to look at before booking is the CruiseMapper website to check which ships are in each port on which days....you probably don't want to be in port at the same time as 4 x 4000 passenger ships. The site also links with info on each ship in port and their cruise costs etc. https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports-in-alaska-22 When Hubby & I were on our Alaska Cruise with HAL Westerdam in early Sept/22 the only 'shore' excursion we did with the ship was the Hubbard Glacier Small Boat adventure as we figured we'd likely never get out there at the face on a regular self-booked trip to Alaska. We did a bit of research first on each port and looked at hiking trails, special community events, etc. and ended up going on an epic day hike in Tongass National Forest on our own - we took the local buses (cheap especially for seniors, lol) and just asked some of the friendlier locals where they'd go on a day off for an 'adventure.' We were prepared though, with sturdy hiking boots and heavy duty rain gear. We like HAL Vista Class ships as they only have 1700-2000 on board - 'big' ship amenities and smaller-ship port availabilities. They also have great music with BB King's Blues Club, and Lincoln Center Stage. They also have great chefs who I give free reign to design meals for me since I have Celiac Disease. I've never been disappointed by their meals and in fact have had several in the MDR that are actually off the Pinnacle Dining Room Menu (with no upcharge.)

Hi beachys: We were on a cruise to West Coast Mexico in early March 2020 (just before COVID closed everything down) and really enjoyed a tour (private for the two of us, but cheaper per person if you have a small group or a family) of Las Labradas Petroglyphs. Here's more info from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Labradas_(Sinaloa) We went with Mazatlan Tours by Johann & Sandra - not cheap but our guides were a scientist and a student researcher and they were very informative. The little museum was very interesting and the homemade lunch with a local family was enjoyable too. The tour site is: https://www.mazatlantours.org/las-labradas-petroglyphs.htm They picked us up right at the cruise port. I'm not certain it would be safe right now as you are travelling quite a ways out of town on fairly deserted highway to get to the park and Sinaloa is in an uproar due to cartel violence as of Thu Jan 5/2023. Please check with them for further info on whether they are even running this tour at the moment.