jsn55

This photo is hilarious. I thought I was the most meticulous packer in the world, but I'm nothing compared to you. Love all those little bags just the right size. "Being sick" anytime is something that fills me with dread. To prove your point, in October I could tell that I was developing a cold the second day after the 10-hour flight. I gobbled Vitamin C, drank gallons of water, read/slept for 48 hours ... and beat the cold to death before I boarded my cruise. Had I not had a bunch of Vitamin C pills with me, I would have had to waste precious rest time trying to find some from an airport hotel.

What does Virgin Voyages call their Cruise Director? Someone is responsible for the raves for the entertainment.

Four countries with four currencies!?! A puzzle. You're right ... cash for tipping is about all you'll need. But I'd want some cash available in case I needed a taxi or whatever. I'll stick my neck out here and say that I think American dollars will be fine, at least for the SEs booked through Viking. Why not check with the private SE operators?

Yup, the breakfast paper tradition has always been acceptable. How nice today that family members can just bring a tablet to breakfast and not have to bother with the pesky papers themselves.

I agree with you ... but just because we don't find it understandable doesn't mean that lots of pax think it's great fun. I must admit that some door decor is so lame it makes me feel sorry for the occupants. But the point is that people ENJOY doing it, nothing else.

It's my understanding that NCL has banned door decorations; I don't recall any on a recent Epic cruise. Read the fine print on NCL's website as it pertains to your ship. I can see them being lax about it over the holidays, tho.

Both WC and shower have doors that slide shut. The walls are translucent glass, they're fine. And there is that curtain in case one of you doesn't want the other to see 'your shape' in the shower. Having the sink in the cabin is a great idea for access anytime. But I found the sink much too small and shallow and was constantly splashing water all over.

I'm still trying to recreate sitting on a beach in Cancun when Santa parachuted down wearing in full Santa suit. Must have been 30 years ago ... the epitome of being in the right place at the right time.

I had never heard of this group. They sound suspiciously like the Lutheran Buddhism beliefs that I seem to have developed over the years. Each to his own ... I'm going to do some more reading. I'll be on the lookout for any signs of 'cultism'.

Lovely! I just discovered that DISH will play "Minnesota Lutheran Christmas Carols" as long as I want them. What fun to sing along to those songs I learned when I was 14 in church choir. Wishing everyone a great Christmas! I'll be in San Diego walking the beach, looking for Santa.

HILARIOUS!!

I'd be VERY happy overlooking the Rhine any time of year!

Electronic devices are not the problem in and of themselves; they're quite wonderful actually. The problem is having your nose on a phone as you cross 6 lanes of traffic, as you have dinner with your family, as you share activities with friends. That I find sad. The other behaviour of blocking walkways, talking loudly in confined spaces, ignoring the cashier as you check out of the supermarket, using the speaker, stumbling into people ... that's rude. It reflects ignorance.

I'm a planner and love researching travel, So I'd start to look at itineraries and consider different cruiselines/ships for segments. Know how you feel about sea days ... lots or few. Cobble together the length of trip you want. Find a travel advisor who is also a cruise expert; there are all kinds of things available to a good TA on a long cruise.

Odd that they don't just set up border control in a temporary enclosure or something. But by the time everyone agreed on how to handle the situation, we'd all be too old to travel.

As long as they're not slowly walking down the hall looking at a phone, stopping dead in the middle of everything, or having loud conversations, I won't care. I do feel sorry for people who would rather play with a device than enjoy a ship or a port ... but it's their problem, none of my business.

So true! So many people just don't read things carefully, or at all. Many cruisers are aware of the fact that cruiseships are no longer welcome in Venice. NCL just listed 'Venice (Trieste)'' on my Epic cruise last month. Trieste is TWO HOURS from Venice. I'm not sure that NCL made much of an effort to let pax know. We met some people a week into the cruise who a) didn't know that and b) had air booked from Venice the day we disembarked. Panic ensued. I was astonished that anyone would be so casual about the details.

To me, 'cash payment' means a debit card or a check. I am very pleased to announce that Chase Sapphire Reserve has just sent me a whopping check to cover a cancelled river cruise last spring due to my husband's illness. The included travel insurance has always been a big perk in my mind. The claim took far too long, but they finally approved it after I pitched a mild fit on the phone and sent an email a couple of weeks ago. I have had complete faith in Chase since they invented the CSR in 2016, and I am relieved that faith is justified. CSR points are an incredible value when booking travel, and Chase' Customer Service is so much easier to deal with than AmEx, I use my CSR for almost everything now.

You're right, I apologize.

Rarely have I seen a better way to waste your hard-earned money than these things.

"Guarantee" cabins are for people who don't care where they sleep. The cruiseline couldn't possibly know your cabin number until close to sail date. I'm sure you can read all about it on your cruiseline's website. Many of us wouldn't book a guarantee cabin under any circumstances. For those who don't care about the details, it may offer a good deal, or your assigned cabin could be dreadful.

In today's climate of 'bargain, discount, cheapest' travel mentality, these sleazeball scammers probably didn't need to do much other than keep shoring up the dreams of great adventure and deep discounts 'if you act fast'. I spent 7 years on a travel advocate forum; people today are so easily blinded by the 'cheapest' ... difficult to grasp the things travellers will do to buy a trip that checks all their boxes. Like they take temporary leave of their senses in the excitement of 'a big score' of a wonderful, perfect, cheap adventure. Something they can brag about at cocktail parties and family gatherings. For example, it was obvious last summer that 'Vantage Luxury Travel' was going down, but people still post occasionally wondering if 'their cruise' will sail next month or next year.

Me too, I avoid hot weather, so a Christmas cruise is very enticing. But I'm not very interested in walking through a Christmas Market every day. I mean, how many Nutcrackers do I really want to see? I'd like to find out more about the cruises themselves and what all that's offered.

Don't know if you're right or not, Sandra, but it sounds like a lot of fun. Just kidding. Seems to me that the result of finding someone attractive would be a nice long conversation over dinner together, or teaming up for a shore excursion. The quick sex thing isn't the only reason people want to get together. At least not the ones I'd find attractive.

I've travelled solo for years, but mostly for business, where I had a built-in social group, so to speak. My husband died recently after a long illness, and I'm looking at solo cruises and been thinking a lot about this subject. Decided to approach my next cruise by thinking up all the kinds of things I enjoy doing, visualizing doing them solo and be sure I'm psychically set up to enjoy being 'alone' for the entire trip. I am gregarious and confident, but it's certainly possible that I'll find nobody to spend time with. Days in port will be easy, of course ... but I'm a little concerned about the evenings. If I'm already mentally set up for enjoyment on my own, meeting compatible people will just be frosting on my cake. My next trip is a river cruise from Provence to Normandy with Avalon in April ... so we'll see how my theory works with a much smaller population than an ocean cruise.