Kellie Poodle

That does sound like a horrible experience and I hope you don't think I was trying to make it sound trivial. My comment was just to point out why Texans seem to be targeted.

I know for a fact that Texans are targeted. I have been told by a Canadian border official who works in Alberta (friend of a friend) that it is in their manual to be suspicious of Texans and others from states that have concealed carry permits.

I have never questioned inspections. I have nothing to hide. What I experienced was a border official abusing his power.

I live about an hour from the St. Stephen/Calais, Maine border crossing. Our local paper always reports on American tourists arrested at the border for trying to get a gun past customs. Nine times out of ten, it is a car or RV from Texas. That is why the border officials pounce on cars from that state.

I will not argue with you. We have been through the Calais crossing several times. If any officials want to search us, they are welcomed to do so as long as they are respectful. We have had our vehicles searched by United States and Canadian border officials. They have a job to do and we never complain. It has never happened to us, but other RVers we know have had the contents of their RVs strewn on the ground by Canadian border personnel, and left for them, many who are elderly, to put back. Not a great welcome.

We never have owned a weapon and we have never lied when crossing a border into Canada. We were in the Canadian Immigration computer from our month in the Maritimes when the Quebec border people terrorized us. We were living in our RV at the time. They made us leave our two little dogs in the cab of the truck. They had possession of our only home. They split my husband and I up from each other and they refused to permit me to use a restroom even when I plead with them, tears rolling down my cheeks.

After we paid the $200 for the minister's permit, we were forced to wait over an hour just sitting in a chair while the guy in charge kept walking past us to tell us that we were not smiling.

The winter after this happened the SARS epidemic decimated Canadian tourism income. :D

I realize that they do things differently in the province of Quebec, but it has left us with a fear of ever going to Canada again, though we did get off a cruise ship in Victoria for an excursion a couple of years after the incident with no problems at all.

The Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills are playing in Toronto as I type this. I will bet next year's paycheck that there are a number of people in each of those organizations with rap sheets. This should give y'all something to think about. Just saying....

The team legal eagles apply for ministers permits for those on the team who need them.

Take a truck driver who has a dui/dwi on his record from driving his car 10 years ago. His company know that he might have a problem at the border so they get him a minister's permit ahead of time.

Entry to Canada isn't barred if you have a DUI/DWI, it just costs for the permits.

As a Canadian entering your country if I had a DWI or any other kind of record I would not be permitted to cross your border. So I'm not sure why you think this is only one sided. I agree it should be limited to how many years ago it happend etc, but your Politicians are the ones calling the shots, why not vent at them or take the steps to get it corrected in time. Fees may be steep but at least your buddy wouldn't have to worry in the future. They just slammed Canadians with a $5.50 entry fee everytime we go to the USA so we can bail your debt out.

Not true.

1) A DUI is not rated as the same type of "crime" in the US as it is in Canada. A Canadian with a DUI on their record has no problems entering the US.

2) If the American's DUI happened more than 10 years ago, it should not be a problem as that law applies to Canadian Nationals, but, the Canadians at the border seem to work on the fly.

After spending time every year for 15 years in Canada each summer and just after having spent a month in the Maritimes, then 3 weeks in Maine, we were detained and terrorized at the border in Quebec. There was no crime, just an arrest that had been in error and the case dismissed.

We have Texas license plates and Canadian border officials believe all Texans are concealing weapons. They went into my DH's NCIC file (FBI) to check for gun permits and found none so they invented a criminal offense to shake us down for an emergency ministers' permit for $200. This was back in 2002. They allowed us to enter because we had purchased tickets to a series of baseball games months before. Before we produced the tickets, they weren't going to allow the bad Americans into Canada. Having baseball tickets for the 3 game series in Toronto made us acceptable.:rolleyes:

After we finally were allowed in, we went to the American Consulate in Ottawa and the Vice Consul, himself spoke to us. He told us that it was the Texas license plates and that the border person was too lazy to search our RV and truck so he went to look for gun permits.

I had a correspondence with a minister in Ottawa that lasted several months and learned that their law says that if the crime happened more than 10 years ago, Canada can't make you be rehabilitated for it if you are not a Canadian citizen. However, this doesn't mean that that they won't hassle you.

If your party wants to be assured, contact the nearest Canadian embassy and ask for a ministers permit to enter Canada temporarily. It's cheaper than "rehabilitation"

We loved visiting Canada and have been in every province and the Yukon Territory. We have not been back since that incident. It's a shame because we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the majority of Canadians are lovely, friendly people.

I agree with the spread sheet method.

Though folks are well meaning, I don't hold much faith in the "we have done 5 cruises with XYZ and they are wonderful" because you are not the poster and your needs and requirements will most probably be significantly different from theirs. Further, if someone has only cruised on one line, can they really make effective comparisons?

Try to find a travel agent who specializes in river cruises. I used one and she had a wealth of information to share with me that helped me to decide which line to choose for the itinerary we wanted to do. Surprisingly, she also got me a better deal than the cruise company's quoted fare.

One more tip: If you live near a major international airport then included air could work. We have to fly a commuter flight between home and a major airport and none of the included air fare offerings have been a savings. Usually there is a list (fairly short) of the departure points that the inclusive air fare will cover. Look at the offer carefully.

Read the fine print. Check the details of the so-called "deals". Make sure you don't have to pay the entire fare up front to get a so-called "deal." That's a lot of your money in someone else's hands for a long time to get that "deal." If it's a "two for one" offering, check prices on similar lines. Most of the time I've found that the "two for one" pricing was exactly the same as another lines regular pricing but sometimes it is a real bargain.

Everyone seems to have a gimmick, you just have to find the cruise line whose gimmick works for you.

I think Viking might not have had the best advertising advice when they made that video;). They should have concentrated more on the advantages of river cruising, like the ability to really explore the towns along the way. See if you can get a video from one or two of the other lines. It might change your impression of river cruising.

We did a Budapest to Amsterdam cruise with Uniworld. We sailed mostly at night, spending all day in the wonderfully scenic towns along the route. We would awake just as the boat was tying onto the pier of a new town and think we'd traveled such a long distance, when in reality, we could have done the trip in less than an hour on the Autobahn, but we would not have seen all those beautiful sights from the boat. We would definitely have missed the magnificent sunsets, the reflections of the lights and the rising moon on the water as we passed by.

Doing a land tour is, to me, very tiring. I hate living out of a suit case, packing and unpacking all the time. I am not at all fond of riding on buses or trying to find my way around in places where I don't speak the language well or at all.

That's one of the great thing about river cruising, your hotel follows you wherever you go. The cruise lines employ wonderful people who are there to make your trip special for you. The cruise director will and other staff will always help you to plan things to do on your own after the sponsored tours.

Before the mid 90's I don't think I even heard of the gem. Does anyone else here remember back in the late 1990's when Home Shopping Network was telling everyone to buy Tanzanite NOW because the mines were running out?

It seems that I've heard that claim several times in the last decade and still they open whole stores selling the stuff. Quite a feat for a gem that was supposed to be no longer obtainable by the year 2000 ;)

I agree that it is a pretty, colored, semi-precious stone, but is it really rare? Is it really worth what they are charging?

If this store is guaranteed by RCI, don't they have some liability? I would get in touch with their customer service (if it's possible to be connected to the right person who knows what they're taliking about) and see if they can resolve the issue to your satisfaction. If nothing else, RCI should reimburse you the $75.

I was recently told by a cruise director on board an RCI ship that if there is a problem with an RCI recommended store, RCI will go to bat for you. He said it was like insurance.

The other thing you can do, if it's not too late is stop the credit card payment and have the credit card company go to bat for you. I did this with a shop in Cozumel who sold me a bracelet that was not at all what they represented. I called my credit card company, got an estimate from a licensed appraiser and the credit card company took it up with the merchant. I got a substantial refund.

2 more days until Voyager! Cannot wait!!

I'll see on Sunday!

All packed and ready to go.

This is a very small hint.......When we cruise I am always amazed at the people who wander around the Windjammer with a full plate of food searching for a table......The WJ is usually busy...that is the way it is...however.. find your table first.....put your stuff on it or have one of your party wait there while others get their food. It is so silly to walk around like a sad sack with a full plate looking for a table!:):):)

We get the attention of one of the staff and they quickly find us a table.

On sea days the Tutti salad bar in the main dining room is awesome. This is not like any salad bar you have ever been to. It's one of my favorite things to do on a cruise.

The sauna and steam rooms in the locker room area of the spa/gym are free. There are also fancy showers there with a bunch of sprays and, on Voyager class ships, there is a big hot tub there, too.

Don't pay for the yoga or Pilates classes. They are worthless. The staff don't have a clue what they are doing. I have seen them put people into postures doing what they think is Yoga that can be dangerous for the people.

Speaking of Yoga and Pilates, I grab a mat from the gym and take it up to the lounge on the top of the ship. No one else is there early in the AM and it is a wonderful place for me to do my Yoga and Pilates routine without being disturbed. I can look out over the ocean while doing it. Some of the lounges have canned music in the morning so I bring earplugs.

We had the same issues on the Explorer last month. It seemed like the older people (walkers, wheelchairs, hover-rounds) were the rudest of the bunch. They spoke down to us constantly. DH and I are early 50s so we're not young by any means. Also, we tried to be polite ... like we were both raised.

I'm one of the "older people". I was on a cruise on Explorer last April and if I hadn't been cognizant of the demographics (the New York Metro area), I would have been offended by the behavior of one extremely rude youngster and one outrageously rude woman who was at least 20 years my junior.

Having grown up as a "Jersey Girl" I chalked it up to regional differences.

Since I was a minority in the crowd of northeasterners, I held my peace. I imagined how those same rude people would have been received on Voyager, where there are so many Texans and had a quiet chuckle.

I lived in an RV for 9 years and traveled all over North America and there are, truly, differences in acceptable behavior in different regions of the country.

Thank you all! This was a great thread. Very, very informative.

We are going to be booking our first X cruise on board Voyager in January. We're doing it via the RCI C&A loyalty ambassador to get the lower deposit and OBC.

I am looking forward to sailing on a smaller ship. We adore Rhapsody for that very reason. I am also looking forward to being able to go to the casino which, unless it's a formal night on some RCI ships, I can't do on an RCI cruise because of the smoking.

When we were younger, we stayed out late and danced half the night away then went to the midnight buffet (which in the olden days was every night). Now we don't mind just taking a stroll after the evening show and saving up enough energy to make our own entertainment in the cabin ;)

If the main difference between lines is that you have more to do late at night on RCI than on X, I think we'll be just fine.

Again, thanks so much folks. I just love CC!

I have participated in a couple and I think it depends upon the ship and the casino manager. A fellow cruiser who has organized many slot pulls told me that often the casino managers will see the groups and get on the computer and tighten the odds on the machines.

I can believe this as on one cruise, the dollar slot machine didn't even cough up as much as a single cherry throughout an entire slot pull with 9 participants @ $20 each.

I have been lurking here for ages as I generally get my cruise dresses at the thrift store then donate them back when I'm bored, but I have this really nice knit tank dress that has a batwing bolero-length jacket that I'd like to offer. It's a petite medium and is a bright scarlet red. The tank dress is fuller at the bottom and does not cling. It was too big for me when I bought it and I wore it once. It can be dolled up with some glitzy jewelry and maybe a belt.

The photos don't really show the color. It's scarlet. It's washable.

kelliepoodle@yahoo.com

Hello ladies, I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to check in. Anyway, I'm still looking for the elusive tank. My 2 pc outfit consists of off white flyaway pants and a matching "jacket type" top. This top is very sheer, about tunic length and is meant to be worn over something. I have a satin off white cami but I was hoping to find something a little dressier or with a pop of color.

Wow, another Jersey Girl in Texas! I'm one, too.

How about a jewel tone satin cammi? deep pink or deep blue come to mind.

I usually wear white walking shoes and have to pack a pair of black shoes for dinner when we are cruising.

May I make a suggestion? We purchased walking shoes that were black leather. No one realized we were wearing our walkers at dinner. My husband has even been known to wear his SAS black walkers with a tuxedo on formal nights on an ocean cruise.

We did the Schoenbrun Palace on our Budapest to Amsterdam Uniworld cruise. We had been in Paris a few days earlier and it made Versailles look like a dump.

Wow! What memories. Nordic Prince was our first Royal Caribbean cruise, too. DH surprised me with tickets for a Mexican Riviera cruise out of Los Angeles. We had to fly across the country from New Jersey where we lived at the time. It was Easter vacation and I think there were maybe 5 people besides me on the full ship who were not teachers on holiday. The food was wonderful, but the ship was showing some wear and tear.

I do recall that the berths were screwed into the wall and they refused to put them together. I had one of those little metal disks with screwdriver stubs on my keychain. We unscrewed the beds from the wall and put them together at night, then back against the wall in the morning. We gave the steward an advance gratuity to play along. He did.

At that time we had done two cruises with NCL. One was on the old ferry that I believe was called the Starward. Tiny ship that thrashed about in the Atlantic when she sailed out of San Juan. DH says that the captain and I were the only people who were not seasick. The other was the brand new Seaward's second cruise. That was a pretty ship. Those were the days when NCL didn't paint graffiti on their ships :)

I remember thinking that I liked NCL better. Since NCL went bargain basement and freestyle, it's just the opposite. We mostly cruise with RCI now.

Amazing how things change over the years.

What an enchanting piece! I laughed so hard, tears came to my eyes.

Thanks for the entertainment.