GrandmaHofmann

Thank you all. We were in Bangkok a few years ago on the Diamond Princess and took a ship's tour. But all we had was about a half hour at the Grand Palace. We were thinking we would like more time there. I am afraid to have someone drive us from Laem Chabang, remembering the horrible traffic. So I thought I might try the drop off excursion. I wish we had more time.

Has anyone done this excursion? Can you tell me how far it is from the Asia Hotel where you are dropped to the Grand Palace? Is it hard to get a cab back to the hotel when you are done?

Has anyone taken the Bangkok do it on your own excursion? I understand you are dropped at the Asia Hotel. How far is that from the Grand Palace? Can you easily get a taxi back to the hotel from the Palace?

November is monsoon season. February is dry season.

Thank you all. :)

We have been to Colon twice and both times used Oscar Brown. We were there in February 2016, as a matter of fact. Oscar is reliable and both our drivers were very good.

I guess I did not explain myself well. I was thinking of taking the Kuala Lumpur on your own, being dropped and picked up in the city by the cruise line. But I was wondering if I could easily get around once there. Sorry!

easily??

The situation might have taken a very bad turn, if not a fatal one, had they lost the second azipod. Imagine being in that storm with no way to control the ship???

Thank you both!

We are sailing on the Equinox Monday. Can anyone tell me about the current shows/entertainment that is on board? Thanks

We are booked on the 14 day Crown Princess cruise that goes to Stavanger, Flaam, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Trondheim, Honningsvag, Tromso, Gravdel, Aalesund, and Bergen out of Southampton. Thanks for the suggestions

are easy to do DIY? That there are interesting things to see in the ports and excursions are unnecessary? It looks like Aalesund might be one. I am thinking of ports you can walk into rather than take a bus to get to.

I'd rather buy a nutcracker for $50 at TJMaxx than pay $250 for the same one in a Christmas market. No exaggeration on the prices. I have been in markets in Dresden, Nuremberg, Munich, Budapest, Prague, Vienna. This year, Strasbourg, Colmar, Paris, Luxembourg City, Brussels, Ghent, Brugges, Cologne, Ypres, and Antwerp. Believe me, the prices are horrendous. But the atmosphere is great.

Booked Oscar for February. His sister is responding to emails promptly. She arranged a private tour for us seeing some things in town at a reasonable price. We had already done the canal and banana plantation,etc.

We have taken our grandchildren on two Disney cruises, and I would encourage you to be on the deck with the performers. Our grandsons had a great time and we never felt "pressed."

Whether or not you take children with you, the ship is full of children, and they don't need to see drunken passengers or near drunken passengers. I don't understand why you would need all that alcohol anyway. Can't enjoy yourself unless you are drugged? It's cheaper to stay home and get drunk. Why not choose that path? We will be sailing with our grandchildren on our third Disney cruise in October. I would prefer they not have to see, hear, or smell drunks. They have also been on two Carnival cruises where we did our best to steer them clear of most public areas and decks. We had a suite and went to shows and dinner and managed to avoid the numerous drunks on the Carnival ships. Unfortunately, making people pay high prices for drinks doesn't keep people from drinking or, apparently, even slow them down. I would be happy to see Disney end all liquor on their ships. Who needs it?

I can't imagine why you would need more liquor than they allow, especially if you can refresh at the next port. I personally get sick of seeing people weaving and slurring and behaving obnoxiously under the influence. And we especially don't need to see this when there are many children around. You shouldn't be in an alcoholic haze anyway when you are caring for children. Frankly, I don't see the need for all this drinking anyway. We've boarded cruises at noon to find the bars already full of people who are already drinking. Ridiculous!

I just booked Oscar for February. He's still around. His sister Carol replied to my several emails immediately.

We used Oscar Brown three years ago and everything went great. I am going to book him for February as well.

Do they still have art classes on Equinox? How do you sign up for them? Are they worthwhile?

Our TJMaxx sells German pyramids, smokers, and nutcrackers for about 1/4 of the price I saw them in the Christmas markets. Same quality; same makers. And also the wooden ornaments which are about $25 in Germany but about $5 in TJMaxx. They get them every year. Bought one yesterday, actually.

It makes far more sense to get your euros before leaving the US. Our bank does not charge us a fee for them. We will not be standing at ATMs so that someone can scan our card. We will be ready to pay the taxi from the airport without hunting one down in the airport where, again, someone can scan the card. And you will not need to worry if your ship is going to run out of currencies as ships we have been on before do. You will need cash in the Christmas markets. They do not take credit cards.

We thought about taking a Christmas river cruise two years ago, but it turned out if we took trains instead that we could spend twice the time in Europe and see things in more depth. When we were in Prague, I found beautiful eggs (real eggs) with designs, cut-outs, etc. Puppets are big in Prague and wooden toys. In the market hall of Budapest you will find any sort of souvenir that you would want. Dolls, wooden things, clothing, and rather costly embroidery. I liked it but did not want to pay nearly $100 for a pillow sham, so I bought a doily and attached it to a pillow sham at home. You will also find ceramic eggs painted in Hungarian patterns in the market hall and untold numbers of things. The Christmas market is Budapest is not large; nor is the one in Prague. There is nothing to buy in the latter but perhaps a cone of their thin potato chips and a big old piece of ham. Prague should not be missed though, as it is a jewel box of a city. The market in Budapest seems to have the best food of any market we went to (Dresden, Nuremburg, Munich, Vienna, Prague) but not as much to buy in way of souvenirs. German markets sell wooden cookie molds which are quite decorative as well as useful. This year we are going to markets in Paris, Strasbourg, Colmar, Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Ypres, Luxembourg City. If anyone wants to know what to buy there, see me in January.

We've been to that port before and did the nature stuff. I wish the ship offered some of the non-nature excursions other lines offer. We took this cruise in 2009 and, in looking over the excursions then, I see they offered almost twice as many with a greater variety.