jsn55

We rented a small speedboat in Catania for half a day. Brought a little picnic, cruised around the sea; it was a fabulous experience.

I'll take shorts any day if we could avoid the slob look now so popular. It's like people go to extremes to look as much like bums as possible. And they're the first ones to scream when experiencing poor service. I find it sad.

ATTA GIRL!!

Just another 'personal information harvest' tactic. But it must work, because they keep sending out the garbage. Glad to know you weren't even tempted.

Just move on, this so-called TA is clueless, or worse.

My mother was an environmentalist long before the term was coined. I live in Northern CA. The thought of wasting water for an hour literally makes me gasp. This is like running water while brushing your teeth ... absolutely nuts.

I love this! My travelling life has gone much the same way ... if I've encountered any real snobbery I was oblivious to it. After all, I don't know any of these people, so why would I care what they think of me? Makes for a pleasant life.

But why would anyone visit a bar close to a smoking area if smoking bothers them? Not like there aren't many other choices. I'm not being snide, I'm just curious.

No, but long ago I learned to put 3-4" of water in the tub overnight and that has always solved the problem.

How true ... glad I hadn't booked ANYTHING anywhere except in my trusty truck! This IT crisis is absolutely horrifying. But it appears that Delta is far worse than other US-based airlines. I cannot imagine how/why DL has gone so far down the tubes; seems like yesterday they were an admired airline who took great care of their pax.

Bottom line for me is that all men look handsome and debonair in a black tuxedo. Assuming it fits, of course!

Never allow a third party to do your air is always my advice!! I am totally allergic to stress over travel bookings. Unless it's your trusted Travel Advisor (who you can reach 24/7) no bargain/discount is ever worth it. Very happy to hear this all worked out for you.

OMG, that's RIGHT! So happy to never have had to deal with any of that. Thanks for the chuckle.

Love this, Lois! Made my evening. You sound like someone I'd love to cruise with!!

As it should be. One of the delights of cruising is to get all dressed up for dinner, or just brush your hair, tuck in your shirt and go have a lovely meal served by crew that are happy to see you. All of us can be comfortable.

I am guessing that the cruiselines could do a better job of cooperating and not overwhelming ports on certain days. If not, we get bans and inconvenience. Kinda sad.

Have low expectations. Then everything will be delightful. At least that works for me most of the time. Exceptions are Princess, American Cruiselines, and Viking. My one Princess cruise was probably OK, but I was so angry about the non-functioning medallion that it colored the whole cruise. My husband was not well, and I slaved away before the cruise to make things smooth for him. I had very little hair left when we boarded. American Cruiselines and Viking in China were downright impossible. The rest have all been fine, and some in the distant past were spectacular.

I also look at 'whats in port'. An extra bonus to knowing this stuff is that I like to watch other ships come and go, so I know when they're departing or arriving.

I dunno ... if he's wearing jockey shorts and has nice legs, perhaps that will be acceptable.

As we said when we were kids ... "I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count". I think it would be a very bad gamble, especially since you already have seasick issues. Rather say this now than having to commiserate with you after a miserable time on the waters around Norway in October. There are thousands of choices out there for another great Scandinavian trip.

A snob is just an insecure human. They are pathetic, to be pitied and dismissed. I am grateful to this thread so I can lose my 'fear' of booking a luxury cruiseline. Thanks, guys!

This former Minnesota farm girl has always stayed clear of the 'luxe' lines for the same reason. We stopped cruising on Grand Circle's small ships because of the plethora of retired 'educators' who dominated the dinner tables with their tiresome opinions. But that was a long time ago. I am delighted to read these responses that my outlook is probably wrong. We sailed Queen Victoria in Norway a few years ago and I just loved her 'real elegance' with little snobbery evident. And she was just about the same price as the usual 'mass market' ships. I will broaden my searches in the future. It's a simple matter to calculate the true cost of a cruise. Thank you all.

Thank you for this ... I love these kinds of assorted goodies boards. Plus truffles, oh my. Why this casual dining thing is such a mystery is beyond me. Good news: it's included in your package. Bad news: we won't tell you what, where or when. CC to the rescue, again!

For ocean cruising, 2K pax size is fine with me; Cunard's Queen Victoria to Norway was a wonderful experience, except for some less than stellar crew in the bars and shore excursion desk. I tried NCL Epic last fall in the Med, believe she carries more than 4K. Would not have been a crowd problem, but the ship's public spaces are poorly designed and created those crowds. Easy to avoid but can be annoying. The itinerary was wonderful and I don't regret my choice. I think you have to really envision your experience before you board. On a ship the size of Epic, you don't expect to just stroll off when you reach a port; you don't dine when everyone else is hungry, you know to schedule a ship's excursion if port time is tight in order to avoid the crowds (more or less). Cruising is a business, people are looking for the cheapest anything, they love the bells & whistles ... so mega ships will be with us until the business plan no longer makes sense. I'll always prefer a European river cruise, but sometimes the budget just won't stretch that far.

No doubt there will be all kinds of SEs, they're just not formulated yet. What I can heartily recommend for Roma is a golf cart tour. It was a fabulous way to see everything up close while having a ball. I booked it through Viator. We were incredibly fortunate to have a high school history teacher as our driver and he was delighted that we were so fascinated with everything. A super afternoon in Roma!