donaldsc

Does anyone really are what name is on the bag? DON

Do you have any hard evidence that this is true. You could check by doing one cruise where you tip and another cruise where you do not and keeping track of your pours and delivery times. Perhaps you are deluding yourself. DON

We just got off a cruise on the Star Clipper ship the Star Flyer. We did much of the first week under 40 to 45 knot winds and we heeled at as much as 15 degrees and sailed most of the day at 10 to 12 degrees heel! It was great although interesting. See attached photo - the camera is level and the tilt is the heel. One passenger asked the captain to compare Star Clipper ships with Windstar ships and not surprisingly his comments were that Star Clipper ships were real sailboat and Windstar weren't. Any thoughts from the Windstar folk. DON

There is another thing to consider when doing last minute bookings - finding an airline flight. We are doing a Puerto Rico cruise in January 2023. You would think that it would be easy to flight good flights and reasonable prices but it isn't. Ignoring the ridiculous airline fares, I spent hours trying to figure out the best connections. I should add that I am a bit of a worrier about connections and I find that allowing a 1h 10m connection in JFK to Puerto Rico or a really short connection to Athens to be unacceptable. DON

I found several hits by typing "alaska cruise travel agents" into Google. I have no idea if any of them are any good. DON

The way that we handled that on our Kusadasi visit is that we booked a private tour through ToursbyLocals. That gave us 3 advantages - 1) We visited the places that we wanted to visit and not the ones that paid off the cruise lines 2) We did not stop at any shopping places except for a place that sold local artist handicrafts 3) My wife walks slowly. We walked at our pace and stopped when my wife needed a break. DON

San Juan Puerto Rico. Actually being on board but out of the cabin during disembarkment would be more important but I sort of guessed that the zero count issue would be a problem. Bummer. DON

We have just completed out 1st Viking River cruise which we loved. One thing that was nice was the casual embarkment and disembarkment policy. On the river cruise we could board almost any time we wanted although we obviously could not get into our cabin. At the end of the cruise we were booked on a 12:15 train train trip from Avignon to Paris. Viking told us that as long as we were out of the cabin by 8:00 we could relax on the ship in the lounge and even have lunch on board before we left. We are taking our first Ocean cruise in January. We would like to board as soon as possible rather than sit in our hotel room all morning. More important we are taking a 4:10 flight home at the end of the cruise. I know that we have to be out of our cabin early but can we relax on the ship until noonish and maybe even have lunch on board instead of having to sit in the airport for hours. What is the Viking Ocean policy versus the Viking River policy? DON

Just my opinion but you have to have a real problem if you can't unpack and then pack your suitcases. DON

You can look them up on Google maps. Also do a Google search on them. DON

I am guessing that the reasons there are no lectures are 1) The cruise lines don't make any money from lectures. 2) Most mass market cruisers are not interested in attending them because they feel that they are not fun as compared to the other on board recreational activities such as drinking and playing trivia. DON

Have you checked on private tours or group tours that are not done by the ship? You don't have to book ship sponsored tours. DON

Here is an interesting thought. You obviously need to have insurance for medical evacuation. However what if you or someone in your party dies. If you don't have repatriation insurance and you or your loved one decides not to pay for reparation of the body. The cruise company certainly does not want to have to handle the dead body. You figure that since the deceased will be repatriated just to be stuck in a hole in the ground it is a waste of money to bring the body back. So what happens next? Can the cruise company force you to take the body? DON

I do this on any cruise that I am on if I want to use a chair and the stuff has been on the chair to long. An alternative is to take the stuff and move it to another location on the ship. Before anyone accuses me a stealing someone's stuff - I am not stealing it. I am relocating it. DON

When I did my trip they weighed my bags before we boarded the plane. Don't know what they would do if you were over weight. DON

As you know we can not recommend TAs on CC. However I will say that I found a very good Antarctica TA on the WEB. Do some research. They are there. DON

Are you doing a drive by on a big ship or a ship where you do landings. The reason I ask is that if you are doing an expedition cruise you may have a weight limitation on your flight to your jumping off point. You need to check. DON

I take my grandkids to Alaska when they turn 10 w/o their parents. We do a one way cruise plus about 1 week on a DIY land trip. I don't play the secrecy or surprise game as I want to get their input as to what they want to do and also what they don't want to do. By the time they are 13 your granddaughter should be old enough to help you plan her cruise instead of just surprising her with what you think is important to her. DON

It is a really bummer that Azamara did that. However Florence is a small city that you can very easily do w/o a tour if necessary. Just a thought. DON

In my opinion a good TA is worth their weight in gold. They are especially valuable when you are doing a specialized expensive trip such as one to Antarctica where most TAs don't have a specialized knowledge. We are not allowed to discuss TAs on CC but there are TAs out there who do only cruises to Antarctica. I know because I found one that I used. Just remember that the internet is your friend. DON

Actually Antarctica may not be as cold as you might imagine. Remember that you will be there during their summer. Your guestimate of "in the 30's" might be a bit optimistic but it will not be like the stuff you read about in books about the Antarctic explorers. This is a quick description of what you should do to stop condensation - https://www.adorama.com/alc/winter-photography-tips-protect-your-gear-in-extreme-cold-2/#:~:text=If you bring a very,condenses inside its internal parts.. I spent a week one year north of Fairbanks in February doing aurora photography. The nighttime temps at Chena Hot Springs was -17 at ground level and we went up on the mountain to get better photos. It was COLD!! Bagging the camera before I came back into my room worked. BTW - I see that you will be on S. Georgia in addition to being in Antarctica. A trip to Antarctica is great but visiting S. Georgia is a life changing experience. I spent 10 days there a few years ago. There is no way that you can imagine what S. Georgia is going to be like until you are actually there. You will be on beaches with 300,000 nesting pairs of king penguins as well as thousands of elephant and fur seals none of which have any fear of you. One final suggestion that I am sure that you have already thought about. There are no photo stores in either Antarctica or S. Georgia and the few photo stores in Ushuaia have a limited stock of stuff so make sure that you bring 2 or more of everything that you have to do. If you forget anything you are SOL. On my S. Georgia trip one person forgot his charger. Luckily others on the ship had chargers that he could use to charge his batteries but he could have been in real trouble. Enjoy!! I am jealous and would love to go back. BTW - we live in the same state. My home is in Las Vegas. DON

A NY Times article about McCarthy - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/24/travel/alaska-field-sketching.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Travel. DON

That is probably enough although a few more if you have the weight allowance would make me more comfortable since you are planning to use 2 cameras. It can't be the cost of the batteries considering how much your trip is costing you and also the fact that you will probably never be back. Just in case you run into a cold spell although Antarctica will probably not be as cold as you expect - I would bring some of those chemical hand warmers and keep my spares in a pocket with the hand warmer. Not quite the same but I once did a February Fairbanks trip to do aurora photography. It was really cold and I went through batteries really fast. Antarctica will not be as cold as Fairbanks in February. I assume that you do know the trick for preventing moisture condensation on and in your camera. DON

Everyone's insurance issues are different. I would post this on the insurance board and also contact Trip Insurance Store or Insure My Trip. DON

I am not sure but I would guess that if the OP books one of the private vehicle tours offered by Princess it should be considered a ship tour so the ship should wait for you or get you to the next port. If you do a independent private tour the ship will not wait but I would not worry about this issue. We always do independent private tours and have never even come close to missing the ship. DON