SoloAlaska

That’s what I figured. I much prefer European tipping customs but still learning them.

Congrats Belle on your loss. I dye thread and sell it wholesale mostly in North America but growing globally. Teaching I only do a little and it’s all about ways to use my thread. My last cruise was mid September and my next one is December 4th. After that I have none planned till 2025 but will probably do a last minute deal next fall. By that one I should be at my ideal weight. I didn’t expect to struggle to shop so much because of the weight I’ve lost but still having so much left to loose. I don’t feel like going shopping when I know in 2 months it will be too big again. I have some clothing in a bin that is smaller sizes but kept none of the tops from when I was this size before.

It’s the Middle East… ok so this is the one type of cruise I would have made sure I had cancel anytime for any reason insurance. There is nothing new happening in any of the listed country so no reason for NCL to cancel at this point. Your choices are dependent on wether you got good insurance or not at this point but the other option is wait and see what happens. I along with most people hope things only get calmer in the world in the next few weeks. Also your in more danger travelling to Mexico than you are to most of those countries. Last weekend I met a woman from Qatar while with a friend who use to live in Saudi and it’s safer now than it was even a decade ago. Stay on tours, be respectful of other peoples culture, don’t be an a**h*** and your good. Could that change, yes. If that changes then NCL will cancel because they don’t want to put you, their crew, their ship or their reputation at risk.

Thats what I usually do but some cruises change more time zones than others. My upcoming cruises crosses 6 time zones in 15 days. Keeping it all straight will require having ship time and local time on my phones screen for port days. During the crossing I will have to shift the time daily I think. It’s absolutely possible I will forget to change the time on at-least one occasion. Having an app that will manage multiple timezones would help prevent this. In port my phone will be on with a local SIM card.

Plus there must be an app to set the alarm based on a time zone in case you change zones without realizing

So sad for all the chocolate. Wasting chocolate isn’t right. As long as you can get some food at 1 am after drinking I’m happy wether it be a 24hr restaurant or a few things at a buffet. celebrity didn’t have much but I could get pizza or a made to order pasta dish after drinking so I was happy, it wasn’t 24/7 but really how many people will be going to eat at 3:30am. Towel animals are cute but so unnecessary especially daily. If/when I travel with a kid I would be very happily surprised if we came back to a towel animal once during the entire cruise. It should be special instead of expected. Now that I think about it maybe I should learn to make towel animals for my BFs daughter.

I carry a little bag slightly larger than my phone. It has my phone, inhaler, sea pads card, a few dollar bills, and maybe a lip balm. I can’t understand people who just lock up their phone for an entire cruise… how do they take pictures 😂. If I’m carrying my phone and seapass then why not add a couple of dollars where I carry that.

Does NCL offer northern lights wake up calls? I know with Celebrity you could get on a list that if the northern lights where out one night they would do a wake up call to everyone on the list. Unfortunately no northern lights on my last Alaskan cruise.

If you don’t want to worry about packing everything properly I’ve heard of some people getting a box from the steward to put all their stuff in for the move. You could also bring a packable duffle bag to load your excess stuff in. I know when I pack everything has to be rolled and placed carefully to fit which I wouldn’t want to bother with during a B2B relocation of cabin.

I love how people complain about midnight buffets being gone but also often those are the people who are in bed by 11 at the latest. I don’t consider the lack of turn down and chocolates to be a nickel and dime situation but just a change in product to balance the budget and offer competitive prices. Celebrity still does turndown and chocolates on the pillow but it’s going to cost you. Coming from cruising on Celebrity I am surprised that bottles water and specialty coffee aren’t included in the drink package but at the price of the cruise it’s a better deal to just upgrade to FAS+.

Restroom attendants are one of the ones I tip but in odd times. If I’ve had a few to drink and as ladies sometimes do we start a conversation in a washroom I usually tip the staff as I leave as a form of apology. Drunk Sam is clean and polite but I feel bad for getting in the way of them doing their job so I tip.

Also OP has stated that even if they can get another flight they have no interest on going on this trip at this point.

With my upcoming Royal cruise it was cheaper to book 2 cabins than it was to have a cabin for 3 people. That was even with paying single occupancy for one cabin. Even cabins that have room for 3 people they wouldn’t allow 3 adults and wanted us to upgrade to another class which was over double the price.

Still haven’t had the opportunity to tip a porter. In Alaska I put my luggage in a pile at the train and next thing I knew it was at my cabin door. In Vancouver it was a guy that just transferred it less than 2 feet and his priority was the next person instead of asking for a tip. I will see in Italy how it is but will have cash just in case. Best tip in Alaska was my shuttle driver from the airport to the hotel. Gave him 5$ and when the next morning he picked us up to take us to the train he placed our luggage so it would be the first ones off and we wouldn’t be stuck waiting. I will probably never drive to a cruise port and am perfectly capable of handling all my luggage and more alone without any assistance. I’ll drop off my luggage at the designated spot and that’s it. A $1 tip per bag is plenty for a porter having to move it a few feet.

Insurance probably wouldn’t have helped either since there has been a declaration of war by Israel. Request to defer the booking is your best bet. Should the company give you a refund because of something completely out of their control, No. Could the company do something, if they want to make a nice gesture then yes. All cruise lines are incredibly busy trying to deal with all the itineraries directly affected. Your email was not the priority compared to dealing with their customers affected in the region to be safe, rebooking upcoming affected itineraries, assisting with evacuations. I hope you are safe and able to reach a compromise with RCI that has you happy in the end.

Also go to the naturalist presentations. If your lucky enough to have Celia Garland as your onboard naturalist don’t miss anything, she is amazing. Im a big fan of the southbound journey. Taking the train from Anchorage to Seward then taking a tour of Seward including a hike to Exit glacier before boarding the ship.

I tip my steward always and the rest is dependent on service. Tipping culture is a little less crazy in Canada and I take into consideration my prepaid gratuities. My first cruise I had planned to tip my waiter but hated my experience in the MDR so much that I left no tip, this year the team was amazing and we made sure to tip them well. When the ship is busy I tip bartenders more just so I make sure I’m not being ignored.

Izena - Oh no that’s not fun at all. Does the dog have seizures regularly? My Ginger has seizures sometimes but the vet isn’t too worried because they aren’t too frequent. They are still scary though in the moment. After the weekend I thought this week was going to be a gain week but I managed to finish up by loosing 0.4lb. I was in Montreal all weekend for my business and taught 4 workshops on embroidery and quilting. Next time I have to prepare with easy snacks I can pull out between classes. I’ll pick up some macro bars and keep one in my purse for when I’m too long between decent meal choices. I leave for Houston on another business trip on Wednesday. At least this year I know where the fancy grocery store is downtown and can pick up some snacks to eat mid day. Mornings will be Starbucks with a pastry for breakfast. Lunch a snack or macro bar to keep me going. Dinner at my favourite restaurant outside the convention centre with bread, steak, potatoes, veggies. I’ll keep my drinking minimal this year. Hopefully that will keep me neutral for my weight while I’m gone.

I met a couple on my last cruise that said they would never ever do another cruise tour again because being stuck in a bus for a week with a bunch of people was the worse vacation they ever took. The cruise part they had an absolute blast and we became fast friends. Lots of people love cruise tours in Alaska. Make sure you think through the type of travel and if you’ll enjoy 5-7 days before you book.

I have a 15 night transatlantic with only 2 production shows and one game show coming up. Thankfully Blazing Boots is one of the shows which is from the 21st century. The other is music from the 70s. NCL was suppose to have good entertainment. Seems that statement is out of date now.

There’s some good deals for a repositioning cruises to and from a dry dock on NCL Joy in January from Miami to South Hampton and the reverse in February. Most of the talk I’ve seen is for October/November and April/March type crossings. How bad is this route in mid winter? I’ve been on a similar sized ship in Alaska when a window was busted on the second deck and spray was reported as high as the 7th and people were lifted out of bed at 3:30 in the morning. With my Emeterm bracelet I slept right through it and even ate breakfast in the morning (skipped the coffee though). I know sees are unpredictable and it can be smooth as glass or giant waves but what would be the median at this time of year on that route?

Also let’s keep in mind there are insurance companies and security consultants also having a voice in this. They have to plan for the worse right now and that involves other countries becoming part of the conflict. Also there are many more military ships now positioned in the region which cruise ships have to give a wide berth to. Also is the Navy requiring berths in the region. This is an escalating military conflict, your vacation is low on the priority list.

I usually bring 3 tops and 2 bottoms that mix and match if I’m planning on being in the water regularly on the trip. I always pack 1 swimsuit just in case even if I don’t plan on using it. I own probably 10 swimsuits but only 3 fit me at a given time.

Emeterm is the same kind of thing, also FDA approved. Different look and less expensive. Both are worth comparing. The no medication solution is such a great feature plus it starts working so fast for me.

My home and my office have slower internet than that and it’s fine for anything you’ll be doing on ship. Streaming, video calling etc will all work well with that type of speed. The only thing someone at home needs more speed for is running a lot of devices at once or gamers.