jsn55

GREAT recommendations! I'll go see if Lulu has any 34" inseams. Thanks for posting.

Many of "we'all" have never been fishing. I realized when I was little that fishing would never be interesting ... and ice fishing exists just so the men can get away from the wife and kids in winter. I remember every late winter some idiots would fall into a lake through ice too weak to support them. The volunteer fire department would mobilize to try to save them, or drag the lake in the spring looking for bodies. Ugh. Anything to do with fishing is the height of idiocy in my book. Fortunately, I also found out what lutefisk actually was at a young age. Swedish meatballs were about as far as we got at my house.

Some of us chose to pack for our own pleasure and tastes; we like to have choices each day and each evening. We enjoy looking our best and give our ensembles a lot of thought. We've all read about people who wear the same pair of shoes out trekking and to dinner. They pack 97 pieces of clothing in a bag that fits under the seat in front of them on the airplane. The idea of doing a 3-week cruise like that gives me the willies. More power to y'all!

On the evening entertainment topic, it seems to me that the 'production shows' might not be ever coming back ... unless competition dictates that the ships do so. Our cruise to Hawaii over Christmas had almost nothing ... one night it was a lady playing the violin in the main theatre. Dreadful. I keep reading that NCL is good for big shows; we're on the Epic in October so I am hoping for the best. I love going to a live show every evening.

Tooooooo funny! Who would do an RIB trip of Norway in March??? Relatives of Eric the Red perhaps? Even this NoMN-raised girl would not be out on the water in that place at that time.

Wear capris or shorts and a t-shirt, a cap or visor, plus a windbreaker if the temp is under 80. You can take your shoes off in the boat or wear sneakers. Don't bring anything that can't get wet. Bring a towel and dry clothes to put on at the end of the trip.

Good input here. I do black long pants only when I travel. I take two pairs of shoes that I can walk all day in on rough surfaces (I can't wear the same shoes 2 days in a row). Both shoes take the same kind of 'fat sock'. I think your ballet flats will have a tough time standing up to cobblestones, broken concrete, stairs and hours of walking. I take some velvet slippers (weightless) to wear around the ship. I like to dress up for dinner a bit and enjoy wearing lightweight dressy sandals, at hotels as well. I just know that if someday I decide not to bother with the sandals, the Captain will invite me to dinner! BTW, you can almost be guaranteed a great cruise ... river cruises are just magic. Enjoy!

Seems to me that insurance purchased directly from a travel provider will put the interests of the travel provider foremost before the cruiser. Regardless of where people obtain their travel insurance, the most important thing is to READ the policy to make sure the coverage is best for you.

Don't think it's negligence, just incompetence. This story is a non-starter when it comes to allocating blame. She wasn't very skilled, he got hurt, he recovered. This story surely describes exactly why I never book any of those kinds of personal services at a hotel or on a cruise. You have no idea of the competence level. Having a really sore finger for two weeks while you're supposed to be enjoying yourself would be awful.

While I am now totally spoiled with sitting up front, I agree that soon I'll only be able to do that by upgrading ... and upgrades are becoming mighty scarce. Still have credits and points and miles for a while, so hope life comes back to normal eventually.

Sometimes the gate or FAs give you a bad time, but you just have to stay polite and repeat "I purchased this extra seat". If you pile your 'stuff' on the seat during boarding, you get a little less push-back. I have always wondered what would happen if a really officious flight attendant tried to claim that empty seat for another pax. I haven't had to do this for quite some time but read about it occasionally so I know it's still an option.

I think that if I had allergies, I'd just put on a mask in public and avoid the whole subject.

Thank you for pointing this out. Another reminder to take what you read on the internet with a grain of common sense. If the information is something that applies to you, get out there and find some confirming facts to back up what an unidentified someone posted on the internet.

A year into the virus, a client told my travel advisor that she wasn't going to be vaccinated because "they have natural immunity". Eighteen months later, her husband was gone. It's amazing how a human being can fool itself so easily.

There are many things that can be done to improve the situation. Unfortunately, people don't pay much attention, they're oblivious to the potential harm of their own actions. I see the most important thing is putting your own health first. Wear a mask, thoroughly wipe down surfaces in your cabin every day, avoid the buffet. Use care in restrooms. Consider whether attending entertainment in a crowded theatre is a good idea. Fly in first class or buy 3 coach seats to be more removed from others. Continue some of the actions we've learned ... use hand sanitizer often, don't touch your face, don't shake hands. Learning to control your own environment may make you more comfortable with travelling.

Maybe it's too early, but am I reading that the ship will provide the visa but nobody will tell you that?

Agree ... spending 1K for a week driving an SUV would have been out of the question before the virus shut us down. $350 for a room at a Hampton Inn? Not a chance I would have paid that.

The issue is that our OP wants to have written acknowledgement from the cruiseline about the visa. You can't use the excuse that you didn't obtain a visa because someone on CruiseCritic told you it wasn't necessary. If I were unable to verify the facts directly with the cruiseline, I'd cancel the cruise. There's no excuse for being that sloppy. Who is going to believe some RCCL agent at a call center? Important stuff like this needs to be in writing. Not a difficult concept to grasp and I'm surprised that RCCL doesn't publish this information clearly.

That's exactly what happens to me in France! I've learned to be a little more awkward when I talk to a French person so as not to embarrass them.

Do you think people are using up their travel credits from cruises and airplanes? I know that most of mine will be up at the end of 2023, so gotta use it or lose it. I think the second half of 2024 will be very interesting in terms of numbers of people travelling. They will be paying for their travel with cold hard cash. I booked a first-class tix to the east coast yesterday, and barely noticed that it was nearly $3K. It only cost me $800, after all. Imagine paying $3K to fly back east... an amount that would have been unthinkable in 2019. Amazing how the virus changed travelers mind-sets.

I've been eyeing these neck pillows, thanks for the recommendation. My problem is not wanting to let my mouth hang open and drool like the old lady I am. Sometimes the regular U-shaped ones aren't completely effective, but I like their compact size until you inflate them. Realized the other day that I can just put a mask on my mouth and nobody will ever know if I'm drooling or not.

I like to use the 'cookie concept' when delivering bad news.

I agree with my colleagues ... a group of 14 should use a Travel Agent who is also a cruise expert. A REAL travel agent, not an online booking service. The TA doesn't have to be local; electronic communication is easy these days. Many Travel Agents (or Advisors, the term they prefer today) are members of professional organizations that might get you started in the right direction. ASTA is the first one that comes to mind. It takes some research and digging around, but that would be time well spent. If I were arranging dining for 14, I'd ask for 3 tables of 6 or two tables of 8 pax and rotate the family around each evening.

Just wait until you're 'old' and can't cut your own toenails, then you'll really appreciate a pedicure! Not that I'm that old, of course, I just heard about it.

I've travelled many places in Western Europe and have never had an issue as long as I know the 'basics' of greetings, questions, menus, etc. I have never been able to learn another language no matter what I try. It does seem that 'everybody' speaks enough English to communicate, but I like to use the local language a bit to prove I'm not a Philistine!