livyordrem

I did an MSC cruise last year. I originally wanted to do 27 nights but they would not let me book a solo cabin. When I called, they said they had various limits for each portion and the limit for the full 27 nights was met. So I booked a solo cabin for the first 3 nights and one for the 24 nights and there was no problem with that. I even called and they gave me the same cabin too. Turns out, I changed my plans and cancelled the 3 nights anyway so it worked out better for me in the end.....

1 minute ago, purpleally said:

I mean, enjoy your adventure!!!!  Not ?  Lol

I'm sure I will! 

Happy travels ☺️

1 minute ago, Steve007NY said:

Sally –

If it’ll take something off your plate, I’m happy to give you the referral. As I mentioned in the other thread, we have a bunch lined up already for future cruises but happy to refer you as someone doesn’t respond to this in a few hours.

Steve (you Sojourn buddy)

Thanks but I'm good! Purpleally above just got it done 

HI everyone! I am looking for a referral for my first cruise on Seabourn next month (Feb). Please let me know if one of you past guests would like to help me out

Thanks

Sally

Does anyone know if you can access the Top 16 Solarium on Orchestra anytime or do they have open and closed times? I'm on the wrong side of the ship for sunrise, which is my favorite time of day 🫤

Is there any access to the forward deck on Deck 15?

Thanks

Sally

Oops! My bad! I'm actually taking a Princess on the way up, the Millie on the way back. Thanks Traveler67! And thanks Langley Cruisers. I hope that is about right for Princess too. I'm taking a train from Seattle so my arrival time is noonish.

I'll be sailing the Millie this Sat :eek: to Alaska out of Vancouver and I'm wondering, what time does embarkation start?

Thanks,

Sally

On my cruise that leaves in 6 days, the wording in the contract is different. It seems to eliminate the permission to bring more onboard

Passengers agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind on board for consumption except one bottle of wine or champagne per person of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage only in his/her carry-on luggage. A corkage fee of $15.00 U.S.D. per bottle (which is subject to change without notice) will be applied to wine and champagne brought aboard by You and consumed in the ship’s public areas. Any wine(s) or champagne(s) supplied by the Carrier to You as a gift are not subject to a corkage fee. At embarkation, all luggage will be scanned for suspected alcohol in excess of the one bottle policy as provided herein. Your luggage will undergo a secondary inspection by a security team operating under CCTV (closed circuit surveillance) or in the event Your luggage is locked, You will be notified and are required to attend the secondary inspection where any alcohol found in violation of the one bottle policy will be removed and discarded. Carrier shall not be responsible for any loss, cost, disappointment or damage of any kind as a result of any alcoholic beverages removed in violation of the one bottle policy. You agree to surrender alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at ports of call, to Carrier, which will be delivered to Your stateroom on the last night of the voyage.

Thanks Lois. I would think of it more of a "regular" restaurant type setting.

Travelling solo can be a delicate balance of too much solitude versus too much talking! It's nice to sit down at a table with people where you don't have to start with all the common questions and answers that go with introductions.

We don't have a very active roll call but I think I will see if any are eating at Blu.

Thanks for the input!

Prices are down again on Sept 4 Millie OV solo $1100, Aqua class guarantee $2000

Does Blu have larger tables for people who would like to dine with others? I am travelling solo and thinking of upgrading to Aqua for a serious price cut from CC (and give up my aft balcony :-( ) but I like to eat with others for dinners. Are larger tables available to join others or not?

Sally

A couple years ago I found an Azamara cruise 14 nights Beijing to Shanghai, aft balcony solo overlooking the wake for $1700! I snatched that up so quickly, they didn't have time to take it back. :p

I've done a lot of solo travel also, in all varieties. Sometimes I am introverted and sometimes not. I like my alone time but sometimes I feel like chatting with someone. Never really had a problem finding someone to talk to.

I think my biggest problem with solo cruising is the dining. I usually like to eat with someone and preferably not someone new at each meal. It becomes quite repetitious to answer all the first encounter questions - where are you from, what do you do, etc. So I usually opt for a large group fixed dinner seat. It gives me someone to chat with each evening about the happenings of the day. The problem here is that with so many options available for dining each night, some nights you end up at a large table with only a few people.

Still lots of room on the Sept 4 Millie!

Sally

Not really, there isn't enough business in the off season to support the number of pilots needed in the summer.

 

Many are freelance and do not live in Alaska. I've know helicopter pilots that fly Alaska in the summer and Hawaii in the winter and fixed wing pilots that fly crop dusters down south.

Good point - not one I thought of.

I did a cruise long ago, probably late '80s, in Alaska and I took both a small plane from Skagway to Haines and a helicopter landing on a glacier. Both trips took off in weather that made me nervous. Both were under visual flight rules (VFR) and the helicopters followed each other. There were times we came close to losing sight of the other and leaving Skagway, we were had to hurry the departure before the hole in the clouds closed up.

That being said, the pilots of Alaska fly here all the time and deal with these conditions all the time. I can't imagine that they will value the money more than their lives! At least I hope not. But as a former air traffic controller, I know many accidents happen (and not just in AK) because somebody "must" get somewhere and overestimate their abilities and/or underestimate the weather conditions (think JFK Jr).

The pilot has (hopefully!) the last say in pretty much everything about the flight and makes the decision whether to stay or go. But as passengers, we have the final say as to whether we stay or go. Changing your mind at the last minute might cost a whole lot of money but if it saves your life, it is money well lost. All of life is a gamble, but use your judgement. And if a flight excursion is too nerve-wracking for you, skip it! Yes, they are beautiful but there is just as much beauty in AK to be seen from land and sea!

Sally

I'll be solo on the Sept 4 Millennium sailing southbound so you wouldn't be the only one! :-) And the ship still has about 200 empty cabin so prices may yet go down.

Sally

I don't think I would have given up a corner aft FV cabin! I can't drink that much! I do love the aft cabins though. I had one on Azamara, a 2 week incredible deal, and loved it. I had one on HAL though and it was not so good. There was crew deck space on the deck below and behind that we looked down on and we couldn't even sleep with our balcony door open because they were out there laughing and smoking at all hours!

Now I've gone and done it! I had a FV on the Millie for an Alaska cruise and I gave it up for $100 and free drinks :eek:I did move just two doors down to a CC cabin so same lovely aft view. And I am traveling solo so I suppose I don't need all that space.....I hope I don't regret it! :rolleyes:

Sally

Our group of eight used Ramses for a two day tour from Alexandria in early October. We all enjoyed our time in Egypt even though it was extremely crowded and rushed. But really, just our ship brought 3000 of our closest friends and we all wanted to see the same things! And we wanted to see everything. So the itinerary was (by our choice!) packed with things to see and do and places to go.

Our tour guide Shady (pronounced Shoddy) spoke excellent English and was very knowledgeable and informative and welcomed questions about modern Egyptian life, religion and politics in addition to ancient times. Our driver Sherif got us to the places we needed to go in one piece and made the best of the traffic situation. The one complaint we had was that lunch the first day was put off later and later by all the things we were scheduled to do until we begged to eat at 3 pm before Saqqara but then had to rush to make it before they closed at 4. But the other option of eating lunch at 4 pm made no sense to us since breakfast had been at 6 am and dinner was to be at 7:30 pm on the dinner cruise.

There were huge crowds everywhere but especially at Memphis where the small Sphynx and huge Ramses statue are and the Egyptian museum. The crowds made those stops less enjoyable but we still would have stopped to see them. But Shady urged us along so that we could fit everything into our short stay. We stayed at the Mercure which used to be Le Sofitel. We didn't have any time to see anything in the evening because most of us went to the dinner show/cruise but in the morning I took the time to see the grounds. They were filled with gardens and an inviting pool area. It was a little oasis in the city. The drive back to Alexandria took almost 4 1/2 hours but nothing anyone can do about that! We still arrived in plenty of time before the ship left.

All in all, I think we were all pleased with the trip. We saw everything we could possibly fit into our time. I would stick with small groups. I think it went smoother than having more people would have. I can recommend Ramses.

I was on a cruise (can't remember which one but I think it was a Norwegian ship) and took a kitchen tour. The blond crewmember giving the tour spoke English as a second language. He was giving the statistics on how much food was used during a typical cruise. He was reading from a paper and listing things like gallons of milk, dozens of eggs and 20,000 lips of chicken, 40,000 lips of cheese, 5000 lips of butter. We couldn't figure out what he was saying until we read our handouts where it said 20,000 lbs. of chicken, etc. I suppose I should have told him that was an abbreviation for pounds!

More recently, my boyfriend and I went on a cruise to Antarctica. He wakes earlier than me and goes out to get some coffee. I didn't crack an eye when he left but when he came back, I looked up. He was in his boxers and a T-shirt! I couldn't believe he went to get coffee like that! He swears no one was up to see him but my cruise this month is solo!

Sally