JerseyJaguar

I wanted a balcony on my cruise and it said there weren't any available but I could do a guarantee, it was about $700 less. I was confused about the perks so called NCL and they explained you didn't get them without paying for a definite cabin and she had a cabin if I wanted one (hmmm). I said no because the only perk I wanted was wifi. Then I didn't hear anything about it again. And when I went to do my paperwork I saw that I'd be assigned a cabin, in the perfect spot, with cabins above and below, I'm very happy (I'll let you know if that changes once I'm on the ship).

So I'm happy with how it worked out, just wish they'd been better at letting me know when I actually had a cabin.

We went a little overboard (no pun intended) with excursions on our first cruise there. But, our thinking was we didn't know if would ever be lucky enough to get back and we didn't want to come home and say damn, we should have done such and such. Never regretted splurging like that and have many unforgettable memories.

Me too.

I did end up going back for a two week on my own land trip and one week cruise and that time I did very inexpensive things in ports, but I was glad that I had spent all that money to do all the once in a lifetime things on what I initially thought would be my only Alaska cruise.

I would definitely do a helicopter ride to see glaciers with a stop to walk on one (we did that out of Juneau).

Also, the whale watching is a must, there are a few ports you can do this.

And I second the Misty Fjords plane ride, really a beautiful trip.

Also, be sure to eat Salmon, smoked, grilled, even if you don't think you like salmon, the Alaska salmon is amazing.

I saw the Komen numbers a few years ago in a US pub.

 

As I recall the numbers were not very good vis a vis how much was spent on fund raising/admin and how much went to where it was actually meant to.

it was shown that very little went to research.

The bonus of the scandal of them politicizing their organization was that other organizations are getting a chance now when before they had been pushed aside because Komen had better PR.

The vegetarian at our table on my Noordam cruise in May had to order the night before.

I sent out jeans and tops and cotton pants and nothing needed to be ironed when it was returned, it was all hung on hangers or neatly folded.

I did not send out anything that I don't throw in the dryer at home.

rare or med-rare? Nathan's franks are kosher like ny dogs.

I grew up on Nathans franks, if those are supposed to be, they sure didn't taste like it. Did not like the hot dog at all.

The burger they'll do however you like it, with whatever you want on (or not on) it.

I took this train from Trimini and didn't buy my ticket till 1/2 an hour before it departed. It wasn't crowded at all. Bonus was the Italian ticket machines took my American credit card (unlike the French train ticket machines which need the cards with the chip in them). Also, I took a few Italian trains and they were always on time.

On euro cruiser's good advice I didn't get my ticket ahead of time so I wasn't locked into which train I took, it gave me the opportunity to go to the Vatican for the Pope's public audience.

Peeping toms? How so? No one needs to look to see if you are smoking. You can smell it as hard as it is for smokers to believe.

I'm just trying to understand how so many nonsmokers post that they are "lucky" not to have smelled smoke yet others insist there is no escaping smokers on balconies. Perhaps the lucky nonsmokers just aren't checking to see what the neighbors are doing thus don't know whether or not they smoke. I think my neighbors smoked because the ashtray makes a distinctive sound when it spins, but since I never poked my head around the divider or peeked through anywhere I never saw them smoke.

:confused: I was under the impression that when someone posts on a public forum, they are speaking to all who participate in that forum and that anyone permitted by the forum managers to do so, can post a response?

 

No one said you couldn't respond, but you seemed confused at to why DMB made that post and I was just pointing out it was a response to a post saying it's about HAL not smokers.

As you know, it's never about just HAL on these threads, it's usually about what the nonsmokers think of smokers ruining their vacations.

My real concern reading these threads is that it seems like there are a lot of peeping toms checking to see what others are doing on their balconies.

I had this on the Noordam, soaked in the hot tub while I waited for the page to go off. I think the pager is a good system.

I liked the burger, but I didn't like the hot dog. Maybe I'm too spoiled by NY Kosher hot dogs.

Yes, there would be posts directed at smokers.

This is a smoking thread.

But, in fairness, you probably also have noticed posts directed at not smokers who are bothered by second hand smoke l...... as one would expect in a smoking thread. :)

I believe DMB was responding to Cruzbud who said it's not about the smokers it's about HAL. DMB was pointing out that many of the comments are indeed about the smoker.

Like DMB I work in a city where smoking is not allowed in parks or buildings or many places, yet there are always those folks who complains about the few places smokers are allowed to smoke. One man confronted a smoker on a busy street corner with taxis and buses inches away, yelling at him for polluting his air.

And remember, this is a thread where people have encouraged spraying smokers who are allowed to smoke on their balconies, running a fan in their faces, or confronting them outright, all implying crossing the boundary where one balcony ends and another begins.

I like my privacy and am very disturbed by the encouragement for strangers to violate that.

Hello! CC anyone? I have met balcony neighbors several time on roll calls.

Since I don't book my room to be next to someone from CC, I do not know who is in the next cabin or on the next balcony.

My point was, why would I poke my nose around the divider to spy on strangers? And if you don't, how do people know so much about the folks next door? All these confrontations that have been suggested, as well as spraying and fan blowing, are these folks leaning around the front, peeking through the cracks to spray, blow or bitch to the neighbors?

I guess it depends on whether a smoker is wiling to extend a common courtesy to strangers only a few feet away who may become ill on uncomfortable from cancer causing smoke. People who smoke on their balconies are selfish and only care about themselves. There are other areas on the ship designated for smokers. However, some feel that balconies are "designated smoking areas". It really does come down to respect and common courtesy.

Wow, the hatred toward smokers oozing out of this statement is impressive.

Many smokers get balconies because that is a "designated smoking area" where HAL allows them to smoke. Anyone cruising with HAL is aware this is a designated smoking area.

I have been on balconies on both HAL and NCL which both allow smoking and have never been a chain smoking smoker or been next to one, yet from this thread it seems like they are the only kind of smoker getting a balcony.

I don't even know how people get to know who is in a balcony next to them, are they peeking around the divider to see who's next door? The only time I ever saw my fellow balcony mates was when we were all looking to see what an ambulance was doing at the gangway (twice).

Do you happen to know if that was pp or per cabin?

As Kazu said, it's per person, all the shuttle prices are.

The other ports that had shuttles were Sardinia, which was free (and also a walkable distance) and Barcelona which was 3 Euro each RT (or 2 one way). Both of those were operated by the cities.

We had a long day in Marseille so I was able to spend some time there before I hopped a train for Cassis (easy to do, Metro in the Old Port to St. Charles train station). If you want a quaint seaside town, this one was perfect. With the added bonus that you can take a boat ride to visit the calanques. Plus there are a lot of nice little restaurants all around the wharf.

I would recommend getting up to Notre Dame in Marseille, the view from up there is amazing and the #60 bus has stops all around the old port.

I did this recently, it's a long but easy walk. The hardest part is if your train comes in on the track that requires going down and up the stairs to get out. If you can manage that without trouble, you can manage the walk.

HAL provides the shuttle in Marseille, I think it was $15 charged to your account. That was good for as many RTs as you wanted. It was fine going into town but coming back in the evening there was a line about three to four bus loads long and the wait was about 45 minutes before we got on the bus.

Not having a chip and pin card really slowed me down. I couldn't use the ticket machines in the Marseille train station, the Naples station, Park Guell sent me to a different line. In all cases it changed the ticket time I could get.

And even if Bank America gets the chip and pin cards, their transaction fees are high.

There's no need or reason to purchase your train tickets in advance, so I'd just go with the flow. You may find that the first hour of the audience fills your need and you can still make the Freccia, but you won't know that until you're in the situation.

Just wanted to thank you for your advice about this. I was able to leave my luggage in my room, head to the Vatican at rush hour and wait for the Pope. He spent 30 minutes going all over the piazza greeting people, it was really amazing.

Made it back with plenty of time to catch the express train, which was a pleasure, very uncrowded, no worries about luggage since it was right there.

The walk to the shuttle was long and hot (plus pulling the luggage up and down stairs at the train station) but I knew at the end of it all I'd be unpacking for 11 days. Plus I've dragged my luggage farther and over tougher terrain. At least it wasn't uphill.

I was on this same cruise and have to agree that the entertainment was better than I've experienced before. The ship dancers were very talented, the costume designer did an amazing job and the shows were fun. When they sang Queen songs I was surprised but pleased. And I loved the BB King group.

I only caught the piano guy the last night when he was on the Aft deck, people seemed to be having a lot of fun.

I loved the rough seas, I love it when the ship rocks like that, but that was before I heard the reason they closed the promenade deck was because the water had reached that high.

Just got back from the Noordam and I did one bag of laundry during the trip, it was $30, it was a lot of clothes and it was back the next morning, on hangers, except the underwear which was wrapped in paper in a basket. It was a great service, especially if you tack on days before and after the trip and don't want to waste time doing your own laundry.

I noticed this same thing with the tour I wanted in Tunisia, it was a bit more in English.

I travel solo a lot. If the steward and/or wait staff are exceptional, I tip extra, if not I don't.

And I do not feel guilty that they are not getting two tips out of my cabin.

The only problem I've ever had with room service has been my own fault, not remembering to order everything I need to complete the meal, like butter.