Genessa

I see there is a lot of same color (Blue) umbrellas on the beach in Ft Lauderdale.

 

Can you rent them and the chair lounges on the beach? I saw a comment about

 

them being picked up at 4:30. Is this true? We are staying at a hotel across

 

the street from the ocean, will we have to put up the umbrellas ourselves?

 

Any answers would be appreciated.

 

Thank You

my experience with most beach front hotels is there is a concession stand/booth (not always associated with the hotel) and you can rent the umbrellas and chairs. Usually they will put the umbrellas up and drag the chairs for you. I generally give them a couple of dollars tip.

Enjoy your cruise!

also, not sure if it would be a concern and not sure if it holds true of all sea planes, but the sea plane excursion I did in 2003 had what I would call sling seats, not hard seats.

thank you so much! What a fabulous booklet you made!

I just printed it out for my 10 year old granddaughter. Just missed the 100 day mark by 2 days.

This is such a great way to help her get even more excited about the cruise than she already is!

Thanks again!

great review!

I haven't laughed out loud like that in ages!

Can anyone suggest what are the "must do" excursions for a first time Alaskan cruiser (not first time cruiser)...we are an active healthy family with kids ages 13 and 10 :)

I'm doing Alaska with my 10 year old granddaughter and decided to do a 7 night round trip inside cabin to save money for excursions - and boy am I glad we did!

Princess has the excursions available for our July cruise and we've already booked them

we are both adventurous and active - this is what we chose

Juneau - helicopter to glacier to dog sled (very pricey, sometimes cancelled due to weather - but money back if so)

and whale watching

Skagway - I've done the railroad, and while it was interesting, we decided to do both a zip lining excursion and a rock climbing one

Ketchikan - last time I did the snorkeling and it was a blast - plus just saying you went snorkeling in Alaska ;), but, there is not much actual snorkeling involved - you walk out from a beach, stay in a small cove - sea life is interesting, but we decided to do fishing. We picked halibut, but I might switch it to salmon - think odds of catching a salmon might be better?

costing a small fortune, but the look on her face as we looked through the excursion list is so worth it. Plus, since I'll be the sole responsible adult, there'll be No bar tab or casino expenses

FYI: It's entirely possible that the couple you mentioned did request a table for 2, but it wasn't available. That happened to my husband and I on two previous cruises. One the first one, we ended up with AWESOME table-mates, so it didn't matter. We had a blast getting to know them. We're still friends to this day.

 

/QUOTE]

 

they had not requested a table for 2. We were standing right behind them and heard them ask for a table with other people. That was the odd thing.

Hmm' date=' if you had bothered to read my posts on this subject in this thread, I made it clear that I am never rude - always greet people wth a hello or pleasantries and have often been dragged into conversations with people because I don't want to be rude. I just asked why talkers don't simply sit at a joint table. I still don't have an answer. There are FAR more privacy concerned folks in this thread than me. I am not sure why I was the subject of your rant but okay. :)[/quote']

 

as others have said, one reason could be that they want to eat at their own pace, not the pace of a larger group.

 

another reason might be that the two people are not actually in complete agreement about the table for two, but were accommodating their companion. For example, on my upcoming cruise I will be traveling with my introverted 10 year old granddaughter. She is not at all comfortable conversing with strangers, and will not even want to exchange hello's. So if you see us, she is not being rude, just uncomfortable. Me, I enjoy sitting at a larger table, chatting with others, but will not do more than say hello or nod to anyone sitting near us, but if they initiate a conversation, I will probably respond.

 

As for why people will even say hello to the people at the next table while on a cruise, when they wouldn't do it in a restaurant, I think it has something to do with being on "vacation" together. I've noticed, whether it is on a cruise ship or a land based resort, that when on vacation people tend to be happier and often friendlier. I live in NY, too, and don't say hello to people I pass on the street, but will acknowledge those I pass in the ship's corridors. Or in the hallway of a hotel. I didn't start out acknowledge those people when I first began vacationing, it happened because I noticed that others said hello to me. Or maybe it's because whenever we're on a cruise, or even a land resort, all the service workers say hello and inspire us?

 

what is more puzzling to me, and it has happened a couple of times, are those who choose to sit at larger tables but don't want to talk. The oddest was when we were seated with a couple who when given the choice to sit at a table for 2 or with others, chose to sit with others. Being right behind them, DH & I ended up getting seated with them. We said hello, they said hello. DH asked them if they had cruised before. They responded with "many times". So I asked them what was their favorite cruise and one of them said "I don't know". We spent the rest of the meal chatting with each other and ignoring that couple, who should have requested a table for 2.

if the kids are young enough and you don't mind being cozy, you can all just stay in the room you like the best. For a 60% cheaper fare, seems like a no brainer. Just make sure you've got the life jackets.

otherwise, like others have said, link the cabins, and put one adult/one child in each.

we have 3 children and over the years came up with some very imaginative sleeping arrangements to save money.

Just came back on 1 Nov. Had a 1050 flight. Go to the airport so early had to wait for the ticket agent check in to open for an hour and half! Got off the ship at 6:45 am, was at the airport within the half hour by taxi. Just get off the ship early, no problems, plenty of taxis lined up.

Glad to hear there were plenty of taxis.

do you remember approximately how much the taxi cost?

I've been debating booking the ship's transfer 'cos we have an early flight.

Thanks!

The World War II museum is amazing. Acme Oyster House is excellent. Have a muffaletta sandwich at he Central Grocery. To die for and invented there. Go listen to Zydeco music.

we really enjoyed the WWII museum, also.

The paddlewheel trip was a change of pace, the "engine room" is very interesting.

My fav thing though was a swamp tour - got tickets from kiosk near paddlewheel dock.

Thank You Guys So Much:) I am sold, there was not one con, and yes a Palace or two one day in this life, should be interesting and not boring. You guys were kind enough to mention still having a good time despite not being into churches/palaces/museums in addition to offering other sights such as canals, bakeries, theatres, and subways, etc. Thanx Again:cool:

I'll add one more on ...

I love history, but have had and still have little to no interest in Russian history - don't know why, just don't.

I like visiting odd little churches (for a brief time) and will do museums, etc., maybe once a year.

I would have been happy ahead of time to spend the 2 days on board the ship.

DH really wanted to see St. P, though, and we chose a private tour with Alla - ended up with 3 of us, and it was fabulous.

The only place I was bored was Yusupov's. And that wasn't for the whole time.

The Hermitage - since we were in such a small group we didn't end up having a lot of time waiting for anyone to look at something we had already seen - we moved fast and ended up getting to pick two additional galleries/sections to see.

But, my favorite place was the subway, lol!

After not wanting to visit in the first place, I would happily go back.

Alla offered the same 3 course meal on our first day on the Grand Tour and we felt the meal/experience was quite good! The staff serving us were very nice and we were able to purchase wine/beer/soda with our meal at an additional cost which was very inexpensive. We had heard from others from the SPB tours that there second day lunch was very informal and I feel it was very comparable to our Russian chicken crepe we had and enjoyed very much on our boat ride to Peterhoff. To be honest, we did not feel we missed out at all by not going to a second venue for lunch. We wanted to enjoy as much time at the sites as possible. One tip is that the snack bar at Peterhoff does not accept USD or credit cards do if you want to grab a snack/drink after touring the fountains, make sure you have Rubles with you. I have to say, this was one of the best cruises I have done and the tours with Alla were all top notch and worth every penny! :).

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

totally agree with you!

our restaurant meal with Alla was delicious. We were in a restaurant with locals - we were the only tourists. I don't remember what we had besides borscht, but it was excellent.

and, we also had the crepes the second day - surprisingly good.

we did the tour in 2006, and had one night only at Denali, 2 nights at McKinley Lodge and we were told we could each bring an airline sized carry-on on the train. AND no luggage "checked" through for our night at Denali, but it would get "checked through - travel by bus" and meet us at McKinley.

However, there was only room under each bench seat (for two) for ONE airline sized carry-on. And, in order for us to get ours under the bench seat the people seated opposite us had to get up. We had one wheelie and 1 backpack and I had my personal bag. I ended up sitting on the backpack. Couples who had brought 2 wheelie type carry-ons were able to have one "stored" at the end of one of the train cars, in the open air.

I am guessing they are trying to cut down on that altogether.

I'm so glad you skipped the video and let us all get a glimpse of the scenery you saw!

thanks so much for your detailed report/review!

This is one of my bucket list itineraries.

I am glad Princess acted on your comments. And I have had the same thing happen with the robe and the topper every single cruise.

Giant's Causeway was one of the high points of our British Isles cruise, too.

But, I hate to admit it, your pictures are much better!

Love your review!

Mark and I were fortunate to have nearly an hour at the Old Man alone.

 

 

 


A few final notes: If you’re headed out on the British Isles cruise and looking for something to do in Kirkwall, I strongly recommend a hike to the Old Man of Hoy. Even without a Eurythmics connection, it’s simply one of nature’s most spectacular spots and so worth seeing. Both Terry and Norman said they’d be happy for me to share their contact information on this board. Now that all the logistics are figured out, it would be a really easy trip for anyone to do. (As Terry put it, Mark and I should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first Americans to get from a cruise ship to the Old Man of Hoy and back in a day!)

 

..

what a fabulous cruise adventure!

thank you for sharing it with us!

thanks so much for posting such a fun-to-read review.

Your Window Suites info is entertaining and informative.

My dh & I did the British Isles in 2008 for my birthday and even though you had a different itinerary your review is helping me relive my cruise.

We also did a 3 hour bus ride to Paris and also had a wonderful tour guide who made the drive pass in what seemed like 45 minutes

and I also decided that I would go back one day - and I never wanted to go there to begin with.

thanks again,

can't wait to read the rest!

thanks for your review!

We will be doing some of the same ports and it is great hearing about your experiences!

Sherri,

thanks so much for all the time you put into this review! It is fabulous, and as so many have posted - you should be an author!

I don't cruise on RC, but when I popped into CC tonight, the title "middle aged drama" caught my eye and I haven't been able to stop reading!

We are doing a Med cruise soon, but the first port we'll have in common is Livorno and I enthusiastically read everything up to then.

I need to stop for now, but I can't wait to read your Greek ports (and everything else)!

I can't remember - we hadn't been looking for Cuban cigars, though, 'cos we knew we wouldn't be able to bring them back to the US.

we never even looked at the tag/label on the cigars.

we were picking up cigars for someone - we don't smoke them and know little about cigars, so we thought we'd buy them on St. Thomas - as US citizens, can't go wrong, right? LOL

Then, being an accurate and law abiding type person, I declared said cigars on our paper.

Customs agents pulled us out of line, went through all my dirty laundry, took the cigars, said they were Cuban despite our receipt from the store on St. Thomas.

To top it all off, while we were in the store buying said cigars, I accidentally broke a bottle of expensive wine. Those cigars cost a small fortune, bottle of wine, even with manager taking over 50% of listed price off was more than I normally spend on wine.

my personal moral - don't buy souvenirs for anyone but yourself!

When booking an empty seat between us the process is entirely different. We could not do this by ourselves through the computer and had to call the airline. They in turn said they would process the information and get back to us. It was two days before we knew for sure we had it and once booked the seat is taken out of the selection process so it is impossible for anyone to book it in error.

 

Our last experience was difficult in that we were to be the last flight out of Toronto before it being hit with a major snowstorm. Standby passengers were a mile long as everyone wanted out before the storm. It is difficult to sit with an empty seat between you under these circumstances when the entire cabin knows how many people would be left behind and for who knows how long. Not a comfortable flight

the last time we did this was about a year ago, so maybe the process has changed, but what we've always done is booked the "middle" seat using my dh's name, without his middle initial and then simply told them when we checked in. We always book on-line.

when we can get relatively reasonable air fare, on planes that don't have just 2 seats by the window, on flights more than 3 hours, my dh & I often buy the "middle" seat.

we have never had a problem with the flight attendants, but did once have a fellow passenger, whose tv wasn't working on Jet Blue, tap me on the shoulder and tell me to get up, 'cos she was getting in the middle of us.

I said, no, we paid for that seat and the flight attendant confirmed and directed the woman to another seat.

the extra seat makes it so much more comfortable!

Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to read and post in this thread.

 

I am looking for an advice about top ten to do and do not miss in London for 2 days. Please mention the places I need to go and your personal top ten.

 

i am open to suggestions also for accessible places to eat in the hurry days. maybe a market, a hole in the wall place, etc.

 

Thanks Everyone!!!

We had an "odd" must see list.

I love history and had several must see historical places:

The Tower

the statue of Boadicca

the tomb of St. Edward the Confessor - located in Westminster Abbey but accessible only through a verger led tour

then a few places that dh & I wanted to see after seeing them on tv or reading about them

Hyde Park

a boat ride on the Thames

Big Ben

Paddington Station

the tube

The Tower Bridge

and my sister wanted me to pick her up a shopping bag from Harrod's.

we managed to visit and spend time at every spot on our lists in 2 days and had a fabulous time doing so.