Essiesmom

Welcome to Cruise Critic. According to CC guidelines (you did read them…?). Requests for tour shares can only be posted on the roll call for your cruise. Since this is your first post, I am guessing you haven’t joined your roll call. Roll calls are where you can ‘meet’ other CC members who will be sailing with you, discuss excursions and other activities onboard. To find your roll call, go back to the main boards page, s roll down to ROLL CALLS, click on Princess, then Regal Princess, and look for a thread with the dates of your sailing. EM

As was suggested a few posts above, this is an MSC Seaside class ship, cabin is an Aurea junior suite on deck 9 starboard. Here is a part of a pic I pinched from cruisedeckplans. The exact cabin would be one obscured by the cruisedeckplans logo…

On Jan 21, Eurodam did a partial transit via Gatun locks. At 0740 she was sitting outside the first lock awaiting her turn. By 0920 she was all the way up and sitting in the middle lock, stuck there half an hour… by 0936 she was moving into the third lock. By 1300 she was moving back through the locks on the way to Colon. EM

Ask on the Carnival board here. More people will see it there. EM

Unfortunately Paul Gauguin hasn’t posted a schedule past December 2024. EM

Because there are people that cannot accept that a cruise can be perfect for the people experiencing it. And an honest review is one where everything is related as perceived by the reviewer. That it is honestly as they perceived/experienced it. EM

Takin’ it to the limit…don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with spats that match the waistcoat. Can hardly wait for chic night. EM

You will never know until you ask. Many of the crew, maybe chefs, are from India. Chances are there are Indian dishes in the crew mess. That first evening when you are discussing gluten free with the waiter or maitre d, ask. EM

Easy peasy. Go to cruisetimetables.com, click on ‘cruises to’ tab, scroll to French Polynesia, click on Bore Bora, then the month you want to cruise. Some lines may not have schedules out yet for 2025. EM

In 2009 we had the Swine Flu scare, and cruise lines cancelled Mexico and went to Canada instead. Cruises were cheap, so I took a B2B on Carnival. On my first leg, at my table was a woman in her 70’s a few weeks past her second knee replacement, the first only a couple of months before. She said there were no beds in rehab, so she had been in a nursing home. She was depressed, and begged the doctor to let her go home. he said she could go if she had someone to cook, clean, make her bed, and plenty of space to walk. She told him she knew just the place, and booked three cruises B2B. My mother was at least 80 when she had hers done. There was no room in rehab, so she went home and rehab came to her, as well as meals on wheels. She lived alone. She did exceptionally well. When she went to her two week checkup, the doc told her she could now drive again. She didn’t tell him she had driven herself there. Later, when she had moved to a retirement facility, she didn’t want to wear shorts because of the scar. I told her to look around…half or more of the people there had the same scar. She wore shorts. EM

There was a time when you had to join the Captains Club, it wasn’t automatic. And it cost $35. So you probably have to find some sort of proof. Any of those gangway pics wit ship name and date…. EM

Mine is on my green card, for points. EM

Many years ago, on a Fantasy class ship they had a country show where a fiddler played Devil Came Down-to Georgia. The fiddler was the CD. They expanded the show to Extreme Country when Dream debuted in 2009. EM

Think about why you wanted to book this cruise/trip. It would be easy transportation, would not have to find hotels, meals provided…great scenery. Well, the other guests probably booked for the same reasons. Chances are it is not their first time to Europe, or river cruise. They are educated, interesting people. Not the old people you see in sitcoms. Read about your ports in guidebooks, like Lonely Planet, Rick Steves and others. Choose what you want to see. It is not required that you take the included tours, or even the optional tours. However, occasionally I have read that the boat will drop off the tours, and proceed up/down the river and pick them up at a different place. I think that would be the day to do a ship tour. My major reservation about river cruises, other than the price, is that like ocean cruise ships, they move from place to place at night…but there is so much interesting and beautiful scenery out there that you are missing! EM

There are lots of videos of those cabins on cruisedeckplans/YouTube. The news is that the bunk is on the side wall, not the ceiling. Also the ‘night stands’ are little tiny shelves that are attached to the walls next to the bed, so unless you can move them, the beds can’t be separated. But it might be possible to make them up as twins. Just no space between them. EM

When you ‘win’ something, whether it is in the auction, or a raffle, you can’t take it with you, because the one they send you comes from a shore warehouse. Someone wrote that they won something in a drawing, and when they were told they couldn’t take it with them, had to pay for shipping, they told them to keep it. EM

It’s too bad they don’t offer the cruise with debarkation in NOLA or Mobile, but no embarkation in NOLA. As long as no one embarked in NOLA, it would not violate the PVSA. But all of the cruise lines do it. Those that relocate from Miami to FLL, or Port Canaveral to Miami…. EM

Get a copy of Rick Steve’s Mediterranean Cruise Ports. He tells you how to navigate the ports on your own, what kinds of tours might be available, etc. The Ports of call boards here will give you a lot of advice, also. We took the train into Rome and explored on our own. We took the tender into Santorini and wandered on our own. The first time to Livorno we took the ships tour to Pisa and Luca. Second time we took the ship transfer to Florence on Your Own. Drop off there and tell you what time to be back. Most calls to Florence dock in Livorno, but some use a different port so I am not familiar with those options. EM

For some people, cruising means they can drink as much as possible because they are not driving…and they may possibly get value out of the drinks packages. There is one member who does live from accounts of her cruises and at the end of each day lists the drinks she has had. It boggles my mind that she can remember what she drank, much less what she did…. I would never get a package because I seldom drink. Not because I am against it, but I just don’t like the taste of alcohol. When I do, it is something that disguises the taste. Less than one a day. My usual drink is a Diet Coke on the rocks with a twist of lime…. EM

Transited today/night. Followed a red bulkier all the way, small enough to share the locks.

Which one? Zuiderdam, Queen Victoria, QM2, Costa Delizioza, MSC Poesia, Island Princess, etc., etc…? EM

She is in Limon Bay now and unless she does a night transit, I rather expect her to go through tomorrow. EM

I believe most cruise lines will allow you to book the evening before and sail the next day. Carnival will allow you to book in the morning and sail in the afternoon, but you have to call, cannot do it online. EM

I believe Aurea may have a dedicated restaurant on ships that do not have Yacht Club. I think there was one on Armonia. EM

Two threads in two minutes, asking the same question? EM