CookingChick2020

2 hours ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

 

May I ask you to check your medication.  I’m not use to people agreeing with me on these controversial things and I have taken Ibuprofen in preparation for the fallout. 😀

 

Nice is a glorious place.  The key thing you need to understand is that in Cannes and Monte Carlo, you are a tourist and everyone will see that and know it.  Everyone around you are tourists. And you are a crop to be harvested.  In Nice, it’s an industrial working town and the locals shrug and almost don’t see you.  You are simply an irritant.  Until you say a few words of badly broken French.  And then they might smile.  It is a bit of France within an otherwise over run tourist area. In Nice you will still need to count your dozen oysters or gamba but that is sadly true of many places. 

 

I fear that the excitement I may have generated for milepig may have deceased him as he has disapeared.. 😱

 

Anyway … I am meandering. 😀

 

Jeff 

 

 

My meds are always in question!  🤭  I feel the same way about Marseille that I do about Nice although I think most don’t share my affinity for that city.  😀

I concur with UKCruiseJeff's take on Nice vs. MC.  My husband and I spent four glorious days in Nice...not really doing anything specific other than a tour to MC with requisite stops in Eze, etc. and we loved Nice so much I would happily spend a month just kicking around there.  We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Palais and had a lovely little balcony with a view of the sea...well worth the splurge!  We've been back to MC on a Regent cruise and just find it to be overwhelmingly meh.

On 7/31/2024 at 1:27 PM, FlyerTalker said:

 

Seatguru has become an abandoned website.  Incorrect information, aircraft that are no longer in fleets and airlines that no longer exist.

 

I assume it exists only to funnel airfare searches to the Trip Advisor website.

 

 

That explains a lot!  I got our seat assignments this week for our upcoming SS cruise and went on Seatguru to check them out.  Compared them to the website of the two airlines that we're flying and the layout was completely different...lol.  Good to know!

2 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

 

LOL - Well, when you've cleared out hundreds and hundreds of garments, bags, shoes, sandals over the past couple of years and you don't want to fill up your closet again.

 

For my personal style, I'm focusing on things that are a bit more understated. We all have to be true to our own style, right? Plus, I want to put my wardrobe dollars and space into things that are used more frequently and in my everyday life.

 

That's not to say that I don't love seeing the cute bags that other people carry. Maybe I'll covet them for a few minutes when I see them on a tender 😁

Got it.  I thought it was a certain age at which you no longer care about style...I was curious about when I might hit that particular age!  😄  FWIW, I live ON the beach so my new "cute" beach bag will get lots of use after this cruise...and the next cruise...and the next cruise.

18 minutes ago, Keksie said:

When you have to pay for your accessories yourself or you want to be comfortable and have accessories that actually are practical.

I've always paid for my own accessories and find that practical and cute are not mutually exclusive...but to each his own.  🤷‍♂️  

12 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

I have often wondered about the impracticality of of some woman's clothings such as the lack of any or useful pockets.  Why do they make them that way and why do women buy them.  I understand that they may want more attractive clothing as most men including me really don't care what they wear a trait that my wife points out all the time.  However the designers could design attractive and at the same time practical clothining.

 

DON

Pockets usually add bulk and extra width to pants and skirts which is not always desirable.

26 minutes ago, suzyed said:

I like that because it seems there is no metal on it....I'm allergic.  Where did you get it and does it come in other colors?

Go on Amazon and do a search for Princess Cruise Medallion Bracelet...lots of options.

14 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

 

I'll add that I'm at a point in life where I don't care if my beach bag is particularly cute, I'm happy with utilitarian. 

 

Just curious...what point in life is reached where you don't care about whether your accessories are "cute" or not?  🤔

I recently bought this one and am loving it.  I live at the beach so I know a thing or two about beach bags.  🙂  I bought this one specifically for cruising because it will work great at the pool or on beach excursions.  It's waterproof and comes in its own small carrying case which doubles as a stash for all your little things.  I got it on Amazon from the Wild ride Travel Gear Store.  https://www.amazon.com/stores/WildRideTravelGear/page/37C9E896-A023-4BB3-BBCF-C04105ED0622?ref_=ast_bln

On 6/10/2024 at 11:47 AM, SoloAlaska said:

 

How do you pack your big hats? It’s an XL with a 3.5” brim and I can’t find a hat case that will fit it because it’s too wide. 

I have a large sun hat that I take on cruises because A)the brim is wide and B)it has a strap so it can hang on my back if I need to take it off.  I pack mine in the very bottom of my suitcase brim down/top up and stuffed with crushable clothing/socks/etc. It has made it back and forth on many long flights and cruises intact.

I was just able to complete booking our main dining room reservations on the Enchanted Princess for our Christmas cruise.  It took a few tries...closing the app, reopening but they're done now!  Our dining is simple though...7PM, table for 2, same dining room each night except for our specialty reservations.

On 3/24/2024 at 9:52 AM, MudderBear said:

Hello.  I booked a cruise in June of 2023 for this May.  I booked the Princess Plus.  The two casual dining are still not appearing anywhere.  Every time I've called Princess (full disclosure, I haven't called them in a few months) they've assured me I still have the two dining casuals.  Why can't I see it with my own eyes?  Has anyone run into this and have cruised and did indeed have the two casual dining meals?  Thanks.

I had the same issue in that I wasn't seeing it in my personal booking information.  BUT I got this in the "prepare for your cruise" e-mail from Princess:  

I'm pretty sure I own more than 20 swimsuits...some one-piece, some bikinis with mix and match options.  It's easy to pack more than a few swimsuits if most of them are bikinis...they don't take up much room.  I wouldn't dream of judging someone based on how many different suits they wear on a cruise...lol.  If I want to get sun, I'll go with a suit that has a bandeau top and a cheeky bottom.  If I am swimming in an ocean with waves, I want a top with straps and more coverage on the bottom.  If I'm doing a combo excursion where I'm in town and on the beach, I might opt for a one piece suit that can sub as a bodysuit as well.  I don't do hot tubs but I'll be in the ship pool on sea days for sure.  At the end of the day, we all do what we choose to do to enjoy our cruise, right?

I use a small faux leather waist wallet that has a removable belt so I can also use it as a clutch in the evening.  Similar to this:   

I have been shaving my entire face and neck for at least five years...and I get testosterone pellets so facial and neck hair is abundant...lol.  The hair doesn't grow back thicker or darker and I get the added bonus of great exfoliation.  I use Dorco Tinkle Razors...you can Google them.  I get mine from Amazon.  I generally shave every couple of weeks.  I slather Bio-Oil Skincare oil on first and go to town!

1 hour ago, aventureux said:

Inspire makes it efficient.  We used Inspire in Lisbon for a cruise in April from Lisbon and we are having a July 4 proctored Inspire antigen in London before a July 7 embarkation from Portsmouth   Highly recommended   

Perfect...thanks!

1 hour ago, asnaleah said:

We used Inspire on June 3 for a June 6 sailing. Went smoothly.

Lovely...that puts me at ease now...thanks!!!

Hi there.  So happy to hear about the elimination of the pre-flight testing coming back to the U.S!!!  Now I have a question about pre-cruise testing if anyone has any input.  We are flying to Rome on 7/10 for a 7/13 embarkation.  I have made appointments with Inspire Diagnostics (Regent partner) for a proctored Antigen test on the morning of the 10th before we head to the airport.  I believe this keeps us within the 72 hour (Inspire refers to it as 3 days) window that Regent requires.  I would imagine that if it didn't, Inspire Diagnostics would have raised a red flag since they know our sail date...but I'm assuming.  Has anyone else done testing through Inspire?  Does my time calculation seem accurate?

30 minutes ago, PSU said:

I would think so. We did a three day after cruise with Regent last month last month in Istanbul and they tested us the day before we left for the US at the hotel. 

We actually stayed at the Hotel Sofia before the cruise it started in Barcelona. 

Thank you so much for that info!  I'll reach out to our TA and have her follow up with Regent.  I was prepared to go through eMed but this would be better.

2 minutes ago, PSU said:

I would think that you would have to find a test in Barcelona or bring an emed proctored home test with you and do it in the hotel room in Barcelona. Unless you booked the hotel through Regent.

Thank you!  We actually do have our post-cruise hotel booked through Regent...the Hotel Sofia.  Does that make a difference?

Hi fellow cruisers!  Wondering if anyone has insight into onboard pre-debarkation testing on Regent.  We are staying an extra day in Barcelona post-cruise but need to be tested prior to flight back to U.S.  Our ship docks at 6AM so I'm not sure how we might be able to test onboard before we disembark.  Thoughts?  thank you for your insight!

We rebooked a cancelled August 2021 Mariner cruise and will now sail July 2022 on the Explorer - Rome to Barcelona.  

On 4/24/2021 at 11:14 AM, bluecruisin said:

We are doing a T/A next spring which ends in Rome. We are then flying from Rome to Venice for 4 days. Out hotel is acroos the water from the airport and we will take a water taxi, probably a private one, but maybe a group one, which the hotel can set up. We will each have a large suitcase and a roll- on. When we pack up on the ship to leave we will only pack what we feel we will need in Venice and just take our carry ons. The Venice Airport has a station called Left Luggage, they will hold your luggage for you untill you return to the airport to fly out. I believe it was either 7 Euros or $7 per piece per day. It saves from taking them to the water taxi and carting them all around.

 

For Margord's benefit as well:  the last time we were in Venice there was a luggage storage place in Piazzale Roma as well.  We took the bus transport form the airport to Piazzale Roma, offloaded our big luggage, used only our carry-ons for a couple of days while we were in Venice.  We caught the nearest vaporetto and took it over to the Rialto Bridge stop and made our way on foot to our hotel.  Our cruise was actually leaving from Venice a couple of days later so we reversed course, picked up our luggage and made our way to the ship.  Regardless of what you decide to do, offloading most of your luggage while you're in Venice is the easiest way to go...unless you're okay spending a lot of money on private water taxis.

Well, we got the official word from our TA today...our August Mariner cruise has been cancelled.  At least they did it before they required final payment!

Thank you Pcardad and hichachoc for your insight!  Ugh.  😒