jsn55

Not ever been on a cruise longer than 2 weeks. I'd tip my cabin steward in cash at the start as usual, then probably every week. Would want him/her to have some walking-around money in ports. Use whatever guidelines the ship gives you, plus/minus depending on any extras. You will LOVE Cunard, a wonderful experience all around.

Good question. Haven't ever been gone longer than 3 weeks. It would be simple to prepay certain things. We use one credit card consistently, I'd pay everything else before we left and prepay any automatic monthly charges. If no other choice, I think I'd set up a separate bank account, then change the password and clear out the a/c when I got to a secure connection.

I hear you and I too am super-careful about my personal information. I wouldn't dream of doing any financial transactions on a phone or an internet connection that isn't secure, for example. One would assume that the medallion itself doesn't contain any more information than your name and cabin number. But Princess' IT is so incredibly bad that nothing would surprise me. I do think if there's a 'crowd' around a terminal that the staff would verbally verify your cabin number.

Sofa beds might technically be long enough, but they're not very comfortable to sleep on. Usually enjoyed by small children or backpackers.

Three cruises since the virus disaster. People wear everything ... from a sheath covered with red sequins and matching 5" stilettos on the arm of a man wearing a red sequined-blazer to their normal 'nice go to dinner' clothes. I always bring a few 'dress-up' things for formal nights because I enjoy it. My husband never goes beyond long pants with a tucked-in shirt and a belt. If you enjoy dressing up, people will admire you ... but nobody will care as long as you look presentable. Cruisers wearing snaggly t-shirts and ragged jeans are everywhere, of course. I think they look awful, but that's my problem, not theirs.

LOVE the girls in Barbie pink! I love jeans in pink and white and pastel colors, so attractive on a young person with no bulges. Keep your eyes peeled, Mum, we need to know the skinny on the high school set. I remember a hotel brunch in England where all the youngish ladies wore long flowy dresses in beautiful prints. What a great picture they made! I vowed to go home and whip up a few long dresses.

I'm a bit suspicious of 'highly recommended' extra-cost tours. I think people tend to inflate how good they were because they were so expensive. I really, really wanted to do the Abu Simbel day but read the promo info extra carefully because it was so expensive. Decided it was too much of everything else compared to the time spent at the site itself ... airplane, walk, bus in high heat, dubious source of lunch ... so we did something else. Three or four couples came back utterly exhausted and very unhappy with such an 'endurance day' that began at 4am ... I think they were back on the ship before midnight. Sometimes a good National Geographic show is better than the real thing.

My nephew in Minneapolis and I in NoCA each submitted directly, paid for expedited service. Only took a few weeks, maybe six; he was about 2 weeks ahead of me. We both had the same reaction ... what a racket they've got going collecting all those expedite fees.

So envious of you!! Two things in my life that I'd love to change. Sewing beautiful clothing and watercolour. Both of them are incredibly satisfying, and both require patience, focus and perseverance. And a great deal of practice. I seem to lack those attributes when it comes to sewing and painting. I hope in my next life I'll be able to do both well. I looked up Design Your Wardrobe and it looks fascinating ... thank you!

I think it's a good point about the value in the Caribbean. Don't think I'd do much shopping there any more. Years ago I bought several things from H. Stern, and I once bought a gold bracelet in Cozumel, of all places. These items are about the only 'good' jewelry I own and they are all valuable pieces, even the tourmalines I purchased in 1980 or so. Very high quality and classic designs. Never appraised because I don't really care about their dollar value. But I wouldn't buy good jewelry in the Caribbean any longer.

Unless it's a 'luxury ship', I'd pack 5 outfits to have more room for stuff like earmuffs, thick scarf etc. I usually bring a nice top and wear the 'airplane' outfit to dinner, with better accessories. Almost all my travel clothes are black & beige ... with one bright color. I use accessories to create looks. Needless to say that everything goes with everything. And seriously, unless it's some wild print, nobody ever remembers what you're wearing.

I have such mixed feelings about tips for people who are just doing their jobs, like drivers and hotel maids. Unless they do something out of the ordinary (like making a U-turn in the middle of the Champs Elysees to escape a mob of celebrating soccer players) I tend not to tip. I cannot decide if we are all being brainwashed into giving tips to everyone we meet when travelling, but I suspect it's so. What do y'all think?

Your last line!!! 🤣

'Cause half the app support peeps the first few days of a cruise are dancers in the production shows. I guess this is better than having pax standing in line forever and creating a negative image. They greet you nicely, especially since you've been in to see them 6 times already, and fool with your phone for a bit. Then they turn you over to one guy who is obviously IT, and he fixes it. You have to prod him to tell you what was wrong and how he fixed it. You need this information to deal with the next problem. Any information that you want to be sure the ship has about you needs to be given directly to the Guest Services people to enter into your record. The app is great fun but not to be trusted, even with dinner reservations. 😝

Lots of excellent information and advice here. I really do understand your position ... if it hadn't been for a fluke way back in 2002, we'd probably still not know about river cruises. We always did Europe independently, but I ran across an ad with the kind of itinerary we'd do on our own. I ran the numbers and booked the river cruise for far less money. Once you do a river cruise, you'll understand it all The differences between river and ocean cruising are almost uncountable. Really difficult to categorize the subtle differences until you experience them. Unless you have concrete 'must haves', I would advise you to just jump in and book one. I'd do Avalon in a Royal Suite, and see what you think. River ship cabins are really tight and we'd never last in a regular cabin. Our first was Amsterdam to Vienna, we loved every minute. No 'luxury', just everything done really, really well.

Careful observation of people wearing jumpsuits (thankfully, there aren't very many) tells me that they are not very flattering to most female bodies. I agree with others, a jumpsuit is not a practical garment at all and totally unsuited to any activity that involves leaving your house.

Seems quite normal to me ... her cruise is coming up in the future, right? So she doesn't want to create any possible conflict with the CL. What if her CL has spies here at CC and they mark her as a troublemaker before she even boards? Some people are QUITE paranoid about this kind of thing. Perhaps justifiably so.

Excellent job: $10 pp. Adequate tour: $5 pp. Bad or incompetent: zilch I never count logistical and other glitches against a good guide, unless it was something they should have fixed.

The key to having a great day is to look once in the mirror when you're 'ready to go', marvel at how good you look, and never look in a mirror again until the next morning.

Does anyone know how to determine how full your ship is while on the cruise? Just curious.

Come to think about it, I use my iron for sewing projects and to press a new garment that has 'shipping creases' ... but I haven't actually ironed anything in years. Wash 'em, dryer for 5 minutes, hang 'em. When travelling, I hand wash things, roll in a towel, hang on a fat hanger. Every time I go by the garment, I shake it vigorously and everything comes out quite well. Careful shopping has obviously been successful ... I just hate wrinkles! I remember reading someone's post here about wearing linen in hot weather because it is so comfortable. When questioned, she said that yes, it did wrinkle immediately and badly, but she just ignored the wrinkles. I still marvel at that one.

Very happy to read this ... NCL Epic in October will be the biggest ship I've sailed on by far ... and everyone goes on and on about 'crowds'. Well, they go on and on about the cabin bathroom configuration too, but the descriptions I've read sound like a good plan. Can't wait to find out! Do you know the percentage/number of cabins on Freedom that were empty? How does one find out if the cruise you're on is at capacity? I've always wondered about that.

Cunard. Queen Victoria is a great, elegant ship. I adjust my expectations when taking any cruise. In exchange for all the hedonism, I have to get on the ship perhaps endure immigration formalities onboard, and make reservations for what we want ... all of which might waste some time. I am careful to plan our time so we don't encounter crowds unnecessarily. I've only observed a couple of pushy, rude people on any cruise. Maybe because we go out late and come back early. We don't go to dinner at 830pm with everyone else. We order breakfast from room service and have many meals at the buffet. We both enjoy our books and computers ... if a show appeals, we'll try to attend ... if we can get in without a huge wait, that's a bonus. Otherwise, we go have a glass of champagne and people-watch. We are outside walking the decks often. Wandering around the ship itself is most enjoyable.

Perhaps so ... but I'd still make every effort to obtain some compensation, if even as a good will gesture. I see this kind of problem as an ethics issue rather than a legal one. There is social media out there, so sometimes service entities are willing to go the extra mile for a good customer.

I am so sorry to read your post, it must have been devastating ... and for such a special occasion at that. At least you were able to rebook and not have to find another cruise for your celebration. Of course you're responsible for making timely payments, but in your case your Travel Advisor is responsible for this particular disaster. I'm assuming that you have a real live TA, and didn't use an online booking service. With an OBS, you get your cruise booked, they make a commission, and that may be the end of their involvement (as far as they're concerned). Theirs is a numbers game, spend millions on advertising, attract lots of reservations and not worry about any customer service. Since most travellers want the cheapest price, they're remarkably successful with this business plan. If you used a live TA, I think they should pay the increased costs of rebooking the cruise. They're your agent with full responsibility for the success of your cruise. There was incompetence on their part, and they are responsible for making you whole. I'd contact them in writing and request the reimbursement; they carry Errors and Omissions insurance, and this is definitely a valid claim.