whogo

I did not know my cabin was a suite until after the cruise when I saw I received a suite bonus in the line's loyalty program. I missed the opportunity to stick my nose in the air and announce that I was returning to my suite of room.

Agreed. Penthouse and owner's are idiotic descriptions, too. I call each of them a cabin, even stateroom seems too grand.

"Could you quit live streaming the accident and call emergency services?"

I am with The-Inside-Cabin on this one, it is wise to have a smart phone while ashore for mapping and emergencies. If you carry one ashore, why not download the app and see if it is of use to you aboard? You can survive without one. Bill and Mary Ann eschew phones, have done world cruises without and are currently posting about their 77 day cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2961723-from-cool-alaska-to-the-balmy-south-pacific-sail-with-bill-mary-ann-on-the-volendam-9-6-23-to11-22-23-77-days/?do=getNewComment

The Eurodam sailing is eleven days, take it for likelihood of fewer children.

It is comforting to know the body can be recovered.

I last bought foreign currency at a local Wells Fargo branch, maybe fifteen years ago. Wells Fargo no longer offers foreign cash at branches, it is now online ordering only. Last I checked, Wells Fargo and Bank of America offered the best online prices, still way above ATM rates. They may have better rates for preferred customers. Travelex and airport exchange bureaus have had horrendous rates, the unwary can pay 20% or more for currency than they need to. Again, this is old information. You'll have to shop around, Rick&Jeannie, for acceptable rates. You will be paying a premium for the foreign cash on the exchange rate plus a fee (probably) plus shipping. You can compare your cost to the interbank rate as posted at oanda.com . Heaven help you, if you have forgotten your high school math. I won't mention it, since you asked me not to, but I have used nothing but ATM's for foreign cash for years.

We have booked balcony cabins, enjoy the extra glass and being able to step outside, but we rarely sit out there. It is either too hot, too cold, too windy, too rainy, too misty or too close to loud talkers. I have spent a lot of time on older ships' promenade decks. They are closer to the water, have a wider view and you can move to the shady side or less windy side.

And you want them to fit over the boot, not into the boot.

Queen Victoria's cruise is a 78 night circumnavigation of South America from Southampton with 46(!) sea days, shorter segments available. I would happily return to Rio, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, the glaciers, Cape Horn and San Antonio for that 19 night segment, but the rest would not appeal to me unless I took overnight excursions to Machu Picchu or the Galapagos Islands. I wonder why a Cunard ship would not have Falkland Islands on the itinerary. Immigration at Port Canaveral and Fort Lauderdale would put me off if I were traveling with a UK passport. Fortaleza? Salvado? Buzios? Manta? Nassau? What's the attraction? Sorry, Babs135, I'm in your husband's camp on this one. I think you can find a better cruise. Does your husband offer any better suggestions? No argument from me if you make it a solo or girls' trip.

Do not forget waterproof pants and gloves, I think they are on the Seabourn list. I took Gore-Tex. I appreciated the wind breaking aspect to the rain pants. Seabourn's provided knit cap was the best ever with wonderfully soft wool. toseaornottosea's advice is just right, although I wore silk long johns instead of wool (I took both) and did not need all the layers on some days. You will want to be able to layer socks just to get the proper fit to your rental boots. It was warmer in Antarctica than it was in the Midwest. Our lowest temperature was a balmy 29 degrees F, which might feel entirely different to a couple from Arizona. REI is a good source for items you might never need again.

What cruise are you considering? It has to be a pretty good cruise to justify a transatlantic flight.

Four hundred and fifty passenger Seabourn Sojourn sails over Christmas and the New Year for 41 days from Miami to Los Angeles and onward to Hawaii and back to Los Angeles. Embark on December 1. Too long a cruise? Ponant's Le Dumont d'Urville sails on December 28 with a maximum of just 184 passengers from Belize City to Colon. From about $8600.

We sailed on Holland America's Rotterdam VI three times, but spent the most days (46) on our two Prinsendam sailings. Both ships are gone from the fleet.

I will consider taking coach tours when they start leaving latecomers behind.

This is the best answer. The roll call is here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2871117-zaandam-october-7-2023-grand-south-america/ With money to burn, I would think you would want to consider overnight trips to Machu Picchu and/or the Galapagos and/or a flight to view the Nazca lines. I thought Valparaiso was a fascinating city, steep streets, funiculars, you could take a walking tour there during your San Antonio stop.

Turn off the sound on your digital camera, save your wife's sanity. Great description of Marjorie Glacier. Too bad about the loud crowd. Thanks for a great live thread, gregma60.

We normally avoid the photographers, but bought a couple of photos of us with the kids ages ago that we liked and paid for one on our last cruise, also got a freebie. If you like the photo and price, go for it. Make sure you like the backdrop before posing in front of it on formal night. I remember complaints about Black Label photography in the past, don't know if they are still around. I think they offered high priced studio portraits. Photographers who block the gangway to photograph everyone should be discouraged in the strongest way.

I have cruised solo. I do not care about reductions from list price or the markup for solo cruisers. I just look at the final cost. It may well be that HAL has a better cruise at a better price with a 100% solo markup than Princess has for a similar cruise with a 50% markup. I do not think the cruise lines will eliminate the solo markup. If the cruise does not sell, they will lower the price until it does. The lowered price may be attractive to solos regardless of the markup percentage.

I assume they take my cabin number to keep me from being seated with more worthy Neptune Suite guests.

Book your mother-in-law in a separate cabin on a different deck. Dine without her, sometimes. Have your wife and mother dine without you. Take separate excursions. Do different activities aboard. Surely the three of you have different interests. You do not want to be near your mother-in-law twenty-four hours per day.

The Holland America cruisers who rave about the Indonesian and Filipino crew have seldom been on other cruise lines. We have had great crew on every line we have sailed. I found it refreshing to deal with staff from a wide variety of countries and continents on my Seabourn cruise. Their grasp of English was better. Try asking a Holland America waiter to describe the preparation of a menu item or to identify the cheeses on a cheese plate.

I never thought I would see the day when a cruise line would refuse to bring more food to a guest.

I just quit tracking Panama Canal full transit cruise prices, I am not going to risk it. There may be some real bargains to be had on Cape Horn cruises in the near future. Might be a good time to buy property in Punta Arenas.

Thanks, aliaschief. The State Department website currently lists 7-9 weeks processing time, not including shipping time. You received yours in 8 weeks. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/processing-times.html