DCThunder

When I've travelled solo I always get a shared table in the MDR. You usually meet some interesting people, and even if you don't, you've only wasted an hour or so of your time. The Solo Meet-ups are a mixed bag, and usually for me, at an inconvenient time. Sometimes its sit around in a circle and say your name and where you're from and something interesting about yourself. They feel a bit like a college freshman mixer except there are no name tags! 😉

Do you use one of those poofy scrubbers too? Maybe we need some pics!😉

Very true about to each their own. But most silly internet clickbait lists of "Things Millennials Are Making Extinct" all include bar soap, since only old fogey Boomers still use it. I hate body wash because I'd use up a whole bottle in about three showers!

Boomers of the World Unite! Give us back BAR SOAP!!!! I, too, bring my own.

Because I'm sure I'd mess it up, and I'm lazy. 😁

I don't know the reason, but Andi boarded in Southampton in mid-July before we set out for Norway. It could have been an "emergency" deployment, but if so, it wasn't evident to the guests.

I'm not quite sure why the list of officers keeps showing Karen Rogers as CD on Island. Andi Sanders is currently aboard until sometime in October. I finished 30 days on Island and Andi was CD for ever one of them.

Andi Sanders is CD on Island now.

Picked up a Medallion in Southampton 11 days ago and was on the ship 20 minutes later. Don’t sweat the Green/Blue lane stuff, but YMMV.

I've seen Twinings (many varieties) and Lipton. I think I've seen Celestial herbal teas as well. If you want Luzianne for making your own ice tea, you need to bring your own. The ice tea from concentrate is awful.

If Capt. Kevin Beirnaert is still Master of Oosterdam (and I'd expect he will be), you could ask him if they'd douse the aft lights when you're down around Cape Horn for a night or two. Even without an astronomer, you can download sky maps which show various stars and constellations you can see and identify. You do need clear skies, which sometimes is a challenge, but you do see things that you don't see in the Northern Hemisphere. Of course, you won't see Polaris or other northern stars, but on a clear dark night, you should see the Milky Way very prominently.

Don't take it personally. It's "social media" in 2023. Did you really expect everyone here on CC to agree with you and say you should have gotten your sundae?🤷‍♂️

Oosterdam picked up two Latvian astronomers in Santiago who are physics and astronomy professors at a university in Labrador, Canada and who had been doing research at the major observatory in northern Chile during summer in the Southern Hemisphere. HAL was providing them with free passage to Aruba (where they were to fly home to Canada) in exchange for them doing enrichment lectures on the Main Stage on various astrophysics topics, including "star gazing", complete with "sky maps". On several occasions, Captain Kevin agreed to turn off the lights on the aft pool deck at night to reduce light pollution for star gazing. One of the professors would use a powerful laser pointer to pick out constellations and stars in the Southern Sky, such as Crux (aka Southern Cross) and the Greater and Lesser Magellenic Clouds, which are actually galaxies. It was a high point of a very outstanding cruise from BA to FLL.

US passports are only valid for 10 years, so by definition they cannot be more than 10 years old.

My experience has been the opposite. The early shows are the ones many people prefer. They want to have dinner in the MDR at 5:00pm and then a show at 7. That's when Jeopardy! or Wheel of Fortune comes on TV back home so there's no difference in the routine.😎

Even on 7 day cruises there's at least one sea day, right? And there are plenty of people who don't want to go to Princess Cay for the umpteenth time, I'd bet. 😁

I still maintain that a matinee performance would be a good solution. I was on a TA on Regal last fall and both of the featured singers did a solo matinee performance on sea days. While these weren't the full production shows, hearing the singers do a 45 minute set, and tell a little of their personal story, was better than sitting through an over-amplified, frenetic show with dancers and lights and the like.

Contact form on the website. I didn't send a fax.

I just received confirmation of this Scavi tour for mid-November 2023. I sent in my information on Sunday.

I found a tour on ToursByLocals of the Etruscan countryside from Civi for the turnaround day on a B2B for early December of this year.

Another option would be to do a third show, either as a matinee (if on a sea day) or a late night show.

I don't know if you're new to solo cruising or just to solo cruising on Princess, but as another solo cruiser (Princess and HAL), my observation is that attendance at the solo/singles meet up is highest the first or second day and declines significantly after that. People tend to gravitate to those who they find compatible and form smaller groups after the initial "cattle call" meet-up. They are also sometimes scheduled at inconvenient times, which may also limit their appeal. How active a pre-cruise Roll Call and if there's a Meet &Greet set up by the RC group also tends to allow singles to find people to hang out with, if they so choose. Sharing excursions set up through the RC also accomplishes this.

Just remember that in heaven there is no beer, so that's why we drink it here. And when we're gone from here, our friends will be drinking all the beer.

TBH, I flew into FCO and took the train into Rome, not the other way around. My cruise was a TA, so ended in Florida. That said, I'd try to arrive 3 hours before the flight, just to be safe. Others may have better advice.

Connections to and from Rome Fiumicino Airport - Trenitalia I've taken the Leonardo Express and it is a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to get to Rome.