letsgo39

I tend to get a little sea sick the first couple of days. I have learned to start taking my Bonine at night 2 or 3 days before the cruise and continue with night Bonine and Ginger pills in the morning through out the cruise and it works great.Have never really had a problem on my cruises. The Ginger Root pills work so great that I keep it in my house all the time now for nausea.

You can see Barcelona in about 3 days.Rome is another story I have been there 4 times totalling about 3 weeks and I still have not seen it all. Go to Rome and spend at least 4 days there precruise.It is the most amazing city you will ever see.

We were just able to get the 3 for free deal and got a big price drop on our balconies from $4353 to $2799. We also now have $585 in OBC and will get $250 more from stock after final payment. A cruise that was very expensive is now a great deal. In addition a couple of weeks ago I was able to book Princess Air for $1137.00 pp from Nashville to London!!:D

Sorry your sale was not a sale. We are booked for a Norway Fjords cruise for next June and just got a BIG price drop on the balconies from $4353 to $2799.00 and also a 3 part deal of $200 to be used for excursions,a free upgrade and 100 OBC. That puts my OBC so far at $585 and I will get $250 more after final payment from stocks.

This is a 15 day cruise and this latest sale makes this a very reasonable price for this cruise. I am sure this will be it for the price drops. They did the same thing last year on our British Isles Cruise. We also got a great deal on Princess Air of $1127.00 from Nashville to London.:D

We were just upgraded from a aft balcony to a midship balcony cabin for our Norway cruise next June.This will be our 2nd Princess cruise and we were also offered a upgrade last June which we turned down.I think we were given a upgrade because it is easier to sell the less expensive balconies.We took the upgrade this time which moved us from aft to midship.:D

We are booked on the Caribbean Princess for 15 days from Southampton next June 12th.The itinerary covers many of the Norwegian Fjords. The more I read the happier I am that we have picked a great cruise.:D

I love to cruise because I love to be on the ocean.I much prefer to be on my private balcony then any other location on the ship. We like to have breakfast out there and drinks out on the balcony in the evening before dinner.I would not cruise if I could not have a balcony but that is just us. We live way out in the country because we like privacy.We feel the same way about a balcony.Only you can answer if it is worth it to you.;)

Our family cruised the Baltic on Carnival last year and the last night at our table for 8 we had dinner with Richard Little and his wife Anita.:D Very nice fun people.

Have you had any problems using scent free gel laundry pods for a cruise including a flight? Do they melt or explode on a flight? What is the best way to carry them to avoid any problems? Thanks for your help.

We just used them on our Brirish Isles cruise on the Ruby. No problem with the flights. We did carry them in a zip lock bag just in case but there was no explosion or leakage. I will definitely get them again next year.Agree they must be in checked bags or the ever lovable TSA will take them.

How?

1. My tux coat is lighter weight than my suit coat or sport coat. It packs tighter. I don't wear a coat on dress casual nights, so don't bring another sport coat.

2. I will have dress shoes anyhow for the evening, and can wear these on formal nights (patent leathers not required). Mine are ballroom dancing shoes.

3. I wear slacks to dinner, and the tuxedo pants are my slacks for 2 of 7 nights

4. Same with the shirt - 1 shirt for 2 of 7 nights, with ship's laundry in between.

5. Studs/cufflinks - < 1 cubic inch of luggage space, can be fitted into any suitcase.

6. Cumberbund /tie. One lies flat, but often these fit in the pockets on the cover of the suitcase, taking very little volume.

 

So, seeing as one wears the formal night wear for 2 of the 7 nights Alaska cruise (in this case), there is little extra compared with just having clothes for those nights, and the extra does not take up that much luggage space.

 

And if one wears a suit instead, then #5 and #6 don't apply, and a regular tie lies flat in the suitcase, taking even less room.

-------------

To the OP:

 

I, too, was skeptical about formal nights on my first cruise (back then we had 2 formal nights, 2 semi-formal nights, and 3 casual nights for a 7 day cruise), I soon found the formal wear created an atmosphere that was magical and romantic. You deserve to give it a try. :)

Do you think it was really the tux? We just got off the Ruby in Europe and lots of men wore slacks,dress shirt,tie and no jacket. No problem.We had 2 formal nights.

They are usually available to reserve about 6 months in advance.

Yes we tip the Steward extra. We have specific requests of wine glasses everyday and full ice bucket 2 times a day. We also ask that the fridge be cleaned out so we can put our wine,water and diet coke in there.We give him $10.00 at the start of the cruise and another $10 at the end.They do seem to appreciate it.I don't care what people want to call it.Bribe or whatever.:D That really is not all that much as we always cruise in Europe and do at least 12 day cruises.

Since Princess is owned by the Carnival Corp I would doubt they would feel the need to compete with themselves.:rolleyes:

Put cruise in front of the word above and you will have it.;)

I use it all the time and you will get notifications IF you sign up.

We have come over to Princess also. We just got off the Ruby Princess for the British Isles and have booked the Cape and Summer Soltice cruise in Norway for next year.It was just so much nicer than Carnival. We were also on the Legend in the Baltic last year and that had to be the ugliest ship I have ever seen.Talk about tacky...............:(

If it is just DH and I we will not go back to Carnival. If we are taking the son and grandson again in the Med we might give it another try in the Greek Isles.Depends on the price.Grandson is 16 so I don't think he would enjoy Princess but he loves Carnival.He's 16 so definitely has different taste then I do.:D

We bring a extra duffle and buy 12 pk of soda,24 bottles of water and 2 bottles of wine to carry on. We only cruise in Europe and shop in port before we board. Have never even had anything checked.

Can anyone tell me that just took this cruise what side the ship usually docked on?

Thanks!

We just returned from our British Isles cruise on Princess. We flew from Dublin to Heathrow before the cruise and used Smith for Airports to get from Heathrow to Southampton. They were great and the cost was 73 BPS for 4 people with a lot of luggage.

NO shorts for dinner in the MDR. period. if it has legs, it needs to hit below the knee. doesn't matter if it is one piece or an ensemble.

 

it would be fine for breakfast and lunch or anywhere else on the ship

Below the knee? It is not the Vatican. Don't know where you got that idea.:confused: Many very dressy clothes are above the knee.

Thank you for your quick reply!! I have been considering the same flight that leaves a day earlier on the outbound leg with a 16 hour layover! Thought that would give me some time to see more than just the airport.

We used "Ephesus Shuttle" for a private tour out of Ephesus a couple of years ago and they were fantastic and a very reasonable price.They do private tours in Istanbul so you might be interested in that too. Istanbul is definitely worth spending time.We just loved it and the people were so friendly and helpful.

I am looking at a flight that leaves from Houston (IAH) on October 30th and arrives in Rome, Italy on the 31st. The layover in Istanbul on my outbound flight is 5 hours, so I should be safe. However, the return flight on November 13th leaves Rome (FCO) at 7am and lands in Istanbul at 10:50 am with a 2 hour and 50 minute layover. The next leg of the flight leaves Istanbul at 1:20pm back to Houston. Will I clear customs in Istanbul or Houston on my return flight? Just wondering if 2 hours and 50 minutes is enough time to do so if I clear it in Istanbul???

You will go through customs and immigration in Houston. You should be fine.

Istanbul is fascinating. What a shame you won't be able to see more than the airport.

We had 2 rooms at the Premier Inn Victoria in June. A double room for DH and I and our son and family.had a family room that was absolutely immense. This was our 5th trip to London but the first for our son and family. The Victoria area is my favorite area in London and I have been there a lot. The breakfast was included and it was a very good breakfast. You just can't beat the area for convenience to everything including transportation. I don't remember exactly the cost but I got a great rate on http://www.booking.com I travel to Europe every year and always book my hotels on booking dot com.

On our cruise in June we used Martins Taxi.

The contact is martinstaxi@skynet.be The cost is 100 euro R/t and we had 6 people.

Same thing,you take the shuttle to the port gate and the taxi will be waiting for you there.

People were told there would be lots of taxis waiting and you didn't need to book in advance but that was not true. As a result several obnoxious people tried to steal our taxi by offering our driver more $$ but she stuck with us. Be SURE to book your transportation in advance.You will love Bruges. It is so very charming. Be sure to take a canal boat ride.

Icelandair is one that we are considering, but our preference would be British Airways.

I totally,absolutely detest British Air. Bet you've never flown them.;)

Ok I just checked them out on Tripadvisor and found out they are a bait and switch company. The reviews were terrible so I will pass. I guess if it seems to good to be true it is.