mithryl

Winters don't get too bad. A typical winter starts with some snow in late October or early November. (The first year I lived here, it didn't snow at all until Christmas Eve day). There is a normally a pattern of snow...then melting...then snow, so it never gets very deep and it is beautiful because it is so often fresh snow instead of "dirty snow". I lived in the mid-west most of my younger life and this is nothing like what I experienced as a child in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Welcome GillCC,

I've sailed on RCCL (with my partner and my Mom). You'll have a great time. They do have FOD meetings and yes, women do attend, but just keep your "gaydar" up and you'll meet people. Sorry to hear about your breakup. A cruise is good therapy ( I actually know a therapist that recommends it!)

RCCL is a good line.

Where do you live?

Perhaps there are others on the boards that are in you area.

Thanks for joining in. Let us know how we can support you.

Do you want to share any other details? (age, occupation, etc.)

Sounds like arb711 is looking to meet other single cruisers.

Gemsm,

Welcome to the board. Congratulations on your upcoming 40th birthdays (and of course..your cruise!) The Western Caribbean is always fun. Like shan9700, we've never been on a NCL cruise.

What do you like best about freestyle cruising?

What do you see (if anything) as the disadvantages?

How would you compare them to your RCCL cruises?

We saw the Pride of Aloha while we were in Hawaii this year and she looked a bit dated from the outside. Not many balcony cabins at all.

Anxious to hear your opinions and experiences.

Hi Mo-n-CJ,

Coeur d'Alene is one of the greatest areas in Idaho. Even though it's in the Northern part of the state...two and a half hours from the Canadian border...it's actually warmer on average than southern Idaho. It's protected by wonderful mountains and is convenient to the Spokane Washington International Airport. The lakes in the area are awesome. Coeur d'Alene was voted "Best Place in the USA to Retire Young" by Fortune 500. There's lots to do as far as outdoor activities. Miles of hiking/biking trails, excellent snow skiing in the winter, every kind of water sport, etc.

We find the climate to be perfect forlovers of 4 seasons.

The summers usually aren't too hot (at least not for very long) and the winters don't get that cold either.

This area is really growing in the number of "family". We have several lesbian friends, both couples and singles as well as many straight friends who don't give our sexual orientation a second thought.

Come on over and check it out!

We'll be glad to set aside some time to give you a tour if you're interested.

Welcome Mom and Girls,

I lived in both North Richland Hills and Bedford several years ago. I hear the whole area has continued to really grow.

Flawaterflirt,

My partner lived in Tampa for 15 years.

We're in Northern Idaho now. Looks like weather in the south has really been hot.

Good time to take to the sea!

Welcome Waimea's Mom,

We never had an issue being gay on "straight" cruises. We've found most people to be very nice (or at least polite and well mannered). We never try to be anything other than ourselves, we introduce each other as partners. The photographers, for the most part seem to love it. Our dinner table mates have always been interesting and accepting (if not curious). We're generally referred to as "the ladies", which is fine with us. Even in our business dealings at home, our clients often refer to us as "the ladies". I don't think you should have any problems at all.

People on cruises seem to be more pre-occupied with having a good time than with being judgemental. We've met some wonderful hetro. couples that we still stay in contact with (mostly about cruising). We have some hetro friends sailing with us for the first time in October and we've already connected with some other wonderful people on that Roll Call Board (including Carol and Linda - "waunabcruisin" from this thread).

We mainly do the traditional dining, however we are going to try anytime dinning on our March '08 cruise with Princess.

Just relax and have a great time.

Hi Carol and Linda,

We leave March 2nd '08 for Hawaii, so we won't be able to make the NCL trip in February '08. However we also want to sail out of New Orleans at some point and visit those same ports.

Prefessor MA,

What a trip! Have a great time and fill us in on the details when you return!

Paddy Anne,

Where are you going for Mary's 50th?

Aloha Mo-n-CJ !

We were just on your wonderful Island in March and will be back again in March next year. Any local advice on "must see and/or do" would be greatly appreciated. We'll be on the Diamond Princess and will be visiting Honolulu on Oahu, Kona and Hilo on the Big Island as well as Maui and Kauai. Loved whale watching in Maui.

We've done Alaska on HAL and loved it. Be aware that it will be cool (if not cold) in September, so if you're planning shore excursions, you'll need to pack appropriate clothing.

Enjoy your cruise. We'll look forward to hearing your impressions when you return.

Hi Patty Anne,

How was the concert?

I raised a child from 2 1/2 years old until she was 11...then the relationship broke off (my partner decided to leave me for another woman) and I haven't heard from her since. I called several years ago and made peace with my ex., but her daughter has never attempted to communicate, so I became a bit soured on the child rearing experience. I'm glad that this isn't neccesarily the norm. I hope that raising children is a lot more positive for the majority of you out there. How are they accepted at school? This was a big issue for us during the "formative years". Drawing pictures of Mommy and Mommy didn't go over very well at the time.

Anyway, life is good now. Hope it is for you too!

Love it!

Wow...I thought my DP was a big Disney fan (she lived in Tampa for 15 years before we met). It is fun to be a "Big Kid"! Hope we get to meet someday.

Have you named your boat yet? I'll send good thoughts her way for a quick, safe and seaworthy return to you soon!

I'd love to hear about all of your upcoming adventures (cruises or not!)

Be Happy!

Welcome Stacey,

Sorry to hear about your "lawn ornament"...what a drag.

13 cruises...wow! It will tkae us a while to catch up to you!

We've never sailed DCL (we don't have any kids and haven't been sure we'd enjoy the experience).

We're pretty spoiled on 10+ day cruises at this point, although we're taking a quick 4 day out of Seattle in October.

We'd consider back to back 7 days to make a 14 day trip. Do you have any thoughts on where you'd like to sail in 2008? We're booked on a 15 day RT to Hawaii on Princess 3/2/08.

We're also considering doing another 7 day Alaska in the summer of 2008, but haven't decided for sure yet.

I'd love to hear more about your experiences with DCL and more about yourselves personally!

Welcome back. Let us all know when you start planning your next cruise! If you're coming to the NW in 2009, will you be coming near Coeur d'Alene? If so, let us know and we can hook up for dinner!

Vicki & Bonnie

Congratulations on getting your 2009 booking! Sounds like an awesome trip. Can't believe all the mini's are already gone. 31 Days is beyond our ability to be away at one time right now (I'd consider up to 21), but my ultimate goal is a World Cruise someday where we're at sea/ports for 6 months! Just saw that Sydney is having some bad storms right now.

See you on the Mercury in October! (Prices just went up on the CC Class cabins...thanks to your nudge, we got in at a great price!)

Vicki & Bonnie

Hi Carol & Linda,

YES...it's a go! We confirmed CC 1027 for us and CC 1025 for our friends (great straight couple, more like family than friends).

We're all very excited, and we may have others still joining us!

None of us smoke. Bonnie & I like to have a few drinks (before, during, after dinner, whatever), but our friends don't drink at all.

This will be their first cruise! It's a great one for them to try out. Donna is from the Vancouver, BC area (dual citizen) and Russ is originally from Montana. Both have lived in Seattle. Donna is an ex-professional dancer, so it will be fun to watch them "cutting the rug". Bonnie and I don't dance, but we love to watch good dancing.

Since we opted for the CC Class, we will be able to get the early seating for dinner we were hoping for (since dining preference is one of the perks). Sorry we won't be joining you for dinner, but let's plan to get together anyway for drinks, conversation, etc. We haven't decided what to do yet while in port. Do you have any plans? Maybe we can hook up on some excursions too! I really appreciate the info you've provided already.

We'll be driving over on the 15th and want to board as early as possible, then relax, have some lunch and explore the ship before sailing.

We won't be able to join you for the 31 day in 2009. Two weeks is about all we can get away at one time right now. We run a few businesses and need to tend to them. Also, my Mom lives with us, so I try not be be gone too long at any one time. Our upcoming 16 day RT to Hawaii (3/2/08)is about as long as we can manage. We may consider doing the Panama Canal in 2009.

Can't wait to meet you! We need at least 25 to have a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet party, so maybe others will join us!

Hi Carol,

I've put a 48 hour hold on a CC Class cabin and I have some friends that are very interested as well. We prefer early dining (we're used to eating pretty early), but right now that is wait list only, so we'll have to see if we're able to get it or not. If not, we'd love to figure out how to join your table. Do you know, with the only sea day being the last day, which night would be formal? Most lines don't have the 1st or last nights as formals, but I'm not seeing much of a choice for this cruise.

I'll let you know once we've confirmed our booking. Tenatively I've booked 1027 on penthouse deck, port side by the forward elevators.

If we finalize the reservation, it will be our first time doing more than one cruise in the same year! Yeah!

I think we're moving in the right direction! We've always said we'd like to do at least two a year and it's never happened before.

Thanks for the nudge!

Vicki & Bonnie

Carol & Linda,

I've been checking into the 10/15/07 Celebrity cruise out of Seattle om the Mercury. It looks really fun. I think we will most likely be booking it within the next week. This will be our first experience on Celebrity. Would you mind sharing your thoughts about experiences with them? We'll be booking a CC Class (same as you), but we have some friends who may come along if they book insides.

The information I've found indicates 1 formal night, 1 dressy (that's not the word they use) and 2 casual nights on a 4 night cruise. We don't mind dressing up (we kinda enjoy it at times), but what is your experience of their formal nights (I usually like to wear dressy pants and a jacket, but I can do a dress if required).

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Hi Waunabcruisin!

I'm glad you're enjoying the thread! We're probably the closest cruisers to you that I'm aware of from this board. We're Vicki (54) & Bonnie (55) and we're in Post Falls, ID. Sorry to hear about your cancelled cruise..I had actually considered it earlier this spring. We booked our 2nd 16 day RT from LA to Hawaii on 3/2/08 on the Diamond instead. (This year we sailed on the Island and it was fabulous.) We'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary together during next years trip, as well as our 4th year after marrying in Portland, Or. in 2004).

You must like sea days to have booked the Sydney to San Francisco cruise. We love sea days, it's one of the many things we enjoyed about the RT to Hawaii...4 full sea days over and 5 days back. The whales around Maui are awesome in early March and Maui is the first port on the 3/2/08 cruise. We'd love to have you (and everybody else) join us, there are still lots of cabins available and prices have dropped a little. I think the cruise is a little more expensive than the repositioning cruise was, but the airfare RT to LA is far less than flying over to Sydney to catch that cruise.

We've booked a fly/sail package at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro on 3/1/08 so we can be on board as early as possible on the 2nd and just lounge around and have lunch prior to sailing.

Isn't the Northwest terrific!

We don't RV, but we do like to travel and Gig Harbor isn't really all that far away.

We'll look into the October sailing on the Mercury. I've gotten pretty spoiled on longer cruises, but a weekend get away out of Seattle would eliminate the need for airfare for us.

Let me know what you think about Hawaii...and welcome again!

Welcome back! Sorry the experience wasn't all you'd hoped. I've never done "freestyle' NLC cruising. I've picked "Personal Choice" dining on our next Princess Cruise and I'm hoping I won't be sorry. I've always done 'traditional early seating" in the past. The 'Diamond' seems to offer many choices and the reviews are good.

Anyone want to join us on 3/2/08 RT to Hawaii from San Pedro, CA? We've booked the Crowne Plaza Hotel the night prior to sailing. It was so much fun this year on the "Island" that we just had to do it again. We've booked a "Mini" for 2008 versus a full suite to save some money. There are more sea days than on almost any other cruise other than a transatlantic...it's awesome!

Anxious to hear about everyone else's cruises this summer and fall.

Thanks to all of you for keeping this thread alive. I had no idea when I started it that it would become so popular. I wish I could meet each and every one of you (and sail with all of you all as well!)

RVMamas,

Prepare to get hooked! I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience. I think you may be spending more time going from departure port to departure port in your RV than any place else!

Paddy Anne,

I've been on HAL and Princess, but not Celebrity. Olivia uses HAL alot for their cruises. HAL does have a little more upscale feel than Princess (depends on the ship), there are some things that Princess offers that HAL doesn't (as far as I am aware). Princess has a real 24/7 buffet in the Horizon court. When I was on HAL, there were times (although short in duration) when the Buffet was closed between meals. Princess also offers both Traditional dining and anytime (personal choice dining), which can be a real advantage if you don't want to be locked into a specific time each evening for dinner. It also allows you to meet more people as you can sit with different people each night if you choose. Princess doesn't do towel animals (not a big deal). I didn't experience much difference in the quality of the food. Both are good...neither is exceptional.

Service was good overall on both. I like the electronic boarding pass capability that Princess has (I don't know if HAL offers it or not.)

Hope this helps.

Does anyone know how these advertisements are getting onto my messages? I downloaded my ticker from tickerfactory .com...could the advertising be attributed to that? If anyone knows, please let me know. If it's tickerfactory, I'll remove them right away and go to a different source for my ticker.

Thanks for the help.

KL&KR,

Sorry you're having issues with Olivia. I do think they try their best to accommodate, but sometimes things happen.

As far as the feeling of "going home again", I don't know that you can ever really recapture the past, but you can enjoy the "Now" for what it is. Times have changed. This is the "L Word" generation.

My partner (Bonnie) used to work for Robin Tyler and helped coordinate both the West Coast Women's Festival and some of Robin's cruises. Who knows, maybe you all have met? If you've got the time, join us 3/2/08 on the circle Hawaii cruise. Princess is very good about accommodating physically challenged individuals. On our last cruise, there were several folks with scooters (as well as walkers and wheelchairs), and everyone was gracious with elevator space, etc. Even tendering into port was handled with grace and ease for those needing special assistance. I think Olivia is great, but I agree with the comments regarding HAL. Olivia can only get as good as the cruiselines they choose. Since the "circle hawaii" crowd is predominantly seniors (based on length of the cruise and the price), it's a great way to enjoy yourselves and know that you will "blend in". I didn't hear one complaint from anyone with physical challenges on this cruise.

RV Mamas,

Cruise documents usually come within the 30 to 45 day window, depending on the cruiseline. You might want to call them if it's less than 30 days and you haven't gotten anything yet.

Our Big News...we just booked a 15 day Hawaii Circle cruise again for 3/2/08 on the Diamond Princess out of LA! Anyone interested in joining us?

We loved it so much this year (2/25/07) on the Island Princess that, after much consideration of other itineraries, We decided to do it again next year on a different Princess ship. If anyone has the time, this is a great trip!

Texas Divers,

Sorry I left off our names...no secrets here. My name is Vicki and my partners name is Bonnie. Thanks for the great job you're doing recording everyones information for us.