beege1936

Oct 26th 10 day repo from NY to FLL

 

Antigua, St Maarten, and Bonaire.

 

Should be interesting to see where we end up. :)

Yep! We're on that cruise, as well. Have the same thought. However.....for us, we've been to the Caribbean many, many times and when we do get off the ship, it is to have a cup of coffee or adult beverage and then return. We can do that on any port.

Just hope that the islands badly hit can regenerate some of the revenue they'll miss.

We have never sailed on Princess before and are considering doing so for an Alaskan cruise. My husband has Celiac Disease and has to eat gluten free. So how about it...anyone else out there required to eat gluten free....what was your experience on Princess? Thanks!

They went out of their way to help my wife who is GF. A special server is assigned to visit each evening and make up the necessary menu.:) She was very pleased.

After a long southeast Asia tour the back of my neck was raw from the DSLR camera strap....and it was a padded and wide one. Perspiration etc, just acted as an abrasive!

On my return home I started looking for a small but well featured 'deluxe point and shoot'. A viewfinder was a preferred feature....but the single most important was that it shoot in RAW! I cannot count the number of times I've been able to either save or really help quickly shot images, taken without time to prepare.

Since I virtually always wear a belt I decided that though a pocketable camera may be nice...notwithstanding the lint and other stuff found in pockets, I settled on a Canon G15...came down to a choice between that and a Panasonic (I forget the model) but the Panasonic does not have a viewfinder.

I fit the camera, a spare battery, and two extra SD cards into this Lowepro case that goes on my belt. Now I have a camera with me at all times and no sore neck. (I use smaller cards, change them every day. The first image on the card is a shot of my lap-top screen, with DATE, LOCATION, etc., this way I know what is on the card. And if, IF a card fails I lose only one day, not the whole trip.):)

A different approach to convenient camera availability...but works well for me.

We have nbot taken the ship's tour, but before a Princess cruise went there on our own (with one other couple) with a private guide. We had two full days of touring many of the temples there.

 

If you have the time and it is not impractical to do before/after your cruise, I would suggest this.

This is what we did last year; I did a lot of on-line research and came up with a tour company that was less expensive for 7 nights and 8 days per person than the Princess shorex....that is if you have the time.

I'll agree, it can be very hot and humid but the sights are worth every drop of sweat! Wear very good shoes, best with rubber soles because the rock paths can be slippery in leather soles. I carried a hiking stick that was a great aid in climbing to the top of some of the buildings and even more getting down.

I'd carry insect repellent, the higher the DEET, the better.

We stayed in a magnificent hotel in Siem Reap provided by the tour company 'The Sothea' We were celebrating our 50th while there and I spoke to the 'butler' for our room; every room has one. When we returned to the room we found it decorated with beautiful 'towel' swans, the bed and bath covered in flower blossoms and a bottle of champagne and sweets. And they did not charge though I gave a nice gratuity.

I've been on several cruises lately, Diamond in South East Asia, Golden to Hawaii, Sapphire to South Pacific. Happily I was Platinum (now Elite) so wife and I got 500 minutes each. Yes, at times it is very slow. I am an early riser and do my 'on-line' work as soon as I get up.

In the cabin C200, C740, B300 categories with balconies....I have generally been able to connect. On rare occasion there has been difficulty and then when attempting during midday.

A suggestion....I bring a multi-tap outlet that plugs into the desk outlet and then it is much easier to plug in other things like camera battery chargers, wife's hair curler, etc.

Though I had read ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand; when it first was published I'd really forgotten much of the tale. Since it reflects so well on what is happening in the world today, I decided to re-read it. 1,000 plus pages, it took a long while and since it was a re-read, I could put it down when necessary.

To this, how about the FOUNTAINHEAD? Also by Rand. Another good 'read'.

Wife and I were on the Coral Princess doing a Panama Canal transit....wife has little interest in taking pictures so she didn't need to be at the front and as close to the glass panels as possible. I went up and worked my way forward along with a folding seat used by handicapped (as I am) folks. I reached as far as I could and then the last couple were leaving a bit of space so I could get my camera between the panels. I stayed there for a while and really didn't pay much attention to the couple that allowed me to get ahead of them.

After a bit the woman of that couple asked me if I was in the candy sale business!!!!! Yes, I had been before retirement. Turning around now, I looked at this couple and they are our cousins!

Need I say, we then had additional buddies for the rest of the trip.:p